The Outfit (1963)

This is the third Parker book by Donald E. Westlake, writing as Richard Stark. I’m reading the entire series in publication order intermittently between other books. These are fun, quick reads with snappy dialogue and a continuing story. Events in previous books are referenced in subsequent books, giving a sense of continuity even though each story stands on its own.

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS

Parker, having crossed the Outfit in the first story, and changed his appearance in the second so they couldn’t identify him, has been exposed. This just won’t do. They keep coming after him, and this has put a damper on things. Frustrated by the setbacks, he decides to resolve the issue one way or another.

This leads to the main action in the story. You see, Parker is a professional thief, and he has cultivated a working relationship with lots of other professional thieves. Traditionally, they never hit any of the syndicate’s establishments. It was kind of an unwritten law. But since the Outfit won’t leave him alone, he sent word out to his associates that now it was fair game. They start turning over syndicate locations, and putting a hurt on their finances. Enough that the big boss wants Parker dead. Parker has to take matters into his own hands or the feud might never end.

There’s a good bit of action in this one, with all those targets being hit from Parker’s circle, culminating in the final showdown between Parker and the mob boss. There was a bit of political maneuvering by Parker as well, to make it all work out in his favor in the aftermath.

I enjoyed the first two books in the series, yet I feel like Westlake started to hit his stride in this one. I don’t believe he originally planned Parker to be an ongoing series, but by this book, that was a given. Which means the writing was intentionally being built out for the long haul.

The Outfit is a solid entry to the early books, and was my favorite so far.