Dirty Money by Donald E. Westlake writing as Richard Stark is Parker novel #24 and the last published novel (published in 2008) of the Parker series.

Dirty Money is also the third book within the three novel saga beginning with Nobody Runs Forever (#22) and Ask the Parrot (#23).

At the end of Ask the Parrot, Parker drives off in a black Infiniti from a race track heist out in the boonies east of Albany, New York. Dirty Money begins with Parker watching the Infiniti sink to the bottom of a river then heading off to Long Island with Claire in a silver Toyota Avalon.

There's good reason Parker and Claire drive to Long Island prior to Claire's home along the lake in New Jersey, a reason having to do with an armored car job up in Massachusetts. The details of that caper are central to Nobody Runs Forever and the immediate aftermath is the stuff of Ask the Parrot.

So, dear reader of this review, in order to both understand and appreciate the dangers and challenges of what Parker must deal with in Dirty Money, please first read Nobody Runs Forever and Ask the Parrot. I can assure you, the pleasure you take in Stark's Dirty Money will be greatly enhanced.

So, assuming familiarity with Nobody Runs Forever and Ask the Parrot, check out this batch of Dirty Money hot shots:

It Takes Moxie
The lure of all that cash up in Massachusetts is simply too strong for Parker to keep away. Both Parker and Claire travel back to the town and area now all abuzz with the armored car robbery - and, to think, those terrible bank robbers actually escaped! Our audacious outlaw and his gal check in to a local bed and breakfast as a typical tourist couple come to soak in the beauty of New England autumn leaves.

Over tea and butter cookies in the communal dining room, the woman who runs the B&B, a Mrs. Bartlett, is delighted to share all the tantalizing details with such an attractive young lady (Claire). Parker simply sits in silent and listens. Parker learns the law caught both Elaine Langen and Jake Beckham and the additional steps the police are taking to catch the actual robbers - most useful information for Parker to plan his next move.

Busy Bounty Hunter
Slick, sassy and smooth, Sandra Loscalzo is back - and adds vinegar and zip to the tale, particularly when Sandra gets to team up with Parker in the final roundup for all that cash.

Big burley Nelson McWhitney watches Sandra in action, dealing with a band of crooks who want to steal the greenbacks from Parker and crew. At one point, Sandra gets stuck and asks the crooks to help move her Honda. McWhitney tells Parker, “She got them to help. You believe the balls on that woman?” Call it what you like, but when you’re working with Parker on a caper, you have to have brass.

Detective Gwen Reversa
The tall, blonde looker remains on the case. Detective Gwen stopped Parker on the highway (Gwen smelled outlaw) some days prior to the armored car robbery but is stuck now without a clue in locating either Parker or the money.

Gwen finds out Parker pulled that race course job in rural New York. She asks a New York state trooper who has come over to her area of Massachusetts to consolidate resources: “Captain, I don’t understand what happened last weekend over in your territory. What was he doing there? Did he have confederates?” Captain Modale took a long breath, a man severely tested but carrying on. “It really looks,” he said, “as though the fella did the whole thing by the seat of his pants.”

Oh, Captain; oh, Detective Gwen Reversa, if you ever could begin to think like Parker you just might have a better chance of nabbing him. Sorry to say for the law, Parker keeps at least five steps ahead of nearly anybody accustomed to working as part of a large organization.

Book Writer of True Crime
One of my very favorite bits in the entire Parker series: Terry Mulcany is a twenty-something freelance journalist who would LOVE to write the book, for sure a best seller, of the armored car robbery. Terry hangs around the police headquarters to grab the latest scoop. Terry is permitted in to police central since he helped the police in tracing Parker (early on, Terry had a quick face-to-face at the B&B with Parker and Claire).

Terry overhears the Captain and Detective Gwen discussing the race track heist where Parker worked with a local guy, Tom Lindahl. “Oh, Terry Mclcany thought, if only that could be my story. Tom Lindahl and the perfect crime. But where is he? Where are the interviews? Where are the pictures of him in his new life? Where is the ultimate triumph of the law at the very end of the day?

No, Tom Lindahl was safe from Terry Mulcany as well. He would stay with the true crime he had, the armored car robbery, with bazookas and unusable cash and three professional desperados, one of them now an escaped cop killer. Not so bad, really.

THE LAND PIRATES: working title."

So, The Land Pirates will be the working title of Terry's blockbuster. And guess who Terry would LOVE to have on the cover of his true crime book? Why, of course, the beautiful blonde detective on the case – Gwen Reversa.

Here I am, at the end point of writing the reviews for all 24 Parker novels. It was a joy from beginning to end. My hearty recommendation: read the Parker novels in order, beginning with The Hunter, where you'll find Parker walking across the George Washington Bridge. They'll go fast. You'll get so hooked; you'll look forward to the next book; you'll wish there were more than just 24. Parker, the ultimate antihero. American to the core.


American author Donald E. Westlake, 1933-2008