Dirty Money

Dirty Money by Richard Stark (2008) This might be the last “Parker” novel—unless there’s some weirdness like ghost-writer versions—or real ghosts. I’ve picked out a couple to read, kind of at random—not wanting to get hooked in reading the whole series (two dozen or so), but it’d be easy to get hooked! I listened to the audio book, actually—good reader, and that makes it even more addictive. It’s funny, the story starts after a crime (not sure if the heist in question is in an earlier book). Parker and his cohorts have robbed an armored truck—so the story here is trying to deal with a ton of hidden cash with the serial numbers on file—making it “dirty”—I love this setup. Parker is forced to enlist the help of a lot of colorful characters—my favorite is a woman named Sandra—she’s vivid and very strong. All the intrigue comes from trying to get around the authorities, and the potential double-crosses of those involved in the robbery and those involved in exchanging the dirty money for untraceable cash. Also, Parker has to go to great lengths to get a new, fake identity—and that part is fascinating. A lot of the story is of the nuts-and-bolts descriptions of how they carry all of this out. Not that you could learn, from it, to be a criminal, really—it all makes a “regular” job sound easy. Very entertaining, though—it felt like watching a movie with no slow spots and just enough humor. Even if the characters are mostly reprehensible, they’re fun to be around in a fictional realm—even weirdly inspiring—or maybe it’s the writing that’s inspiring. I’d love to be able to write that cleanly.

8.19.25