I found The Handle (Pocket Books, 1966) by Richard Stark, i.e., Donald Westlake, on my Kindle a couple of weeks ago. I did not remember reading it, or perhaps my reading was too long ago to recall, but I promptly moved it up on my metaphoric stack.
The Handle is the 8th appearance of Westlake’s iconic professional thief Parker. By this point in the series, Parker and The Outfit have settled their differences, described in earlier titles, and feel friendly enough toward each other for Parker to agree to help put some competition out of business. For a price, of course.
Baron Wolfgang Friedrich Kastelbern von Altstein has acquired an island some 50 miles south of Galveston, Texas, and has established a booming casino that is steadily draining money from The Outfit’s coffers. The Baron left Germany at the end of the second World War with a considerable sum amassed from black market and similar illegal activities. He is quite skilled at turning a dishonest buck, and the executives of The Outfit are furious that the Baron has decided to bring his grifting expertise into their territory. Their directions to Parker are to rob this threat, clean him out, and strip him to the bone.
The island wasn’t just selected for its ambience, it is nigh on impossible to access except through a narrow and heavily guarded port. Add the impressive small army strolling the grounds, and Parker’s first problem is how to reach the casino without being killed. Finding the money once inside and removing it are also major hurdles.
Parker brings in reinforcements including Alan Grofield, a professional thespian who finances his acting career with a sideline in theft. Westlake found Grofield interesting enough to feature him in a few books alone but in this early book Grofield is a sidekick.
As always, Parker is the sharpest person in the room and he is a pleasure to watch at work. Just as it’s a pleasure to study Westlake’s clean, clipped, and compelling writing. Not the strongest entry in the series, but anything Donald Westlake wrote is worth reading.
A lengthy article on The WestLake Review offers some interesting insights into this somewhat unusual series entry: