Also finished The Rare Coin Score by Richard Stark, the nom de plume of Donald E. Westlake.

The Rare Coin Score is one in a series of books about Parker, a cold, cool thief who does whatever it takes to get the job done — and who isn’t shy about killing people who get in his way.

I was really excited to read this book because this is sort of a turning point in the series. Throughout the books, Parker has had no emotionally attachments to anyone — not even to his wife who betrayed him before she killed herself. But this is the book where he hooks up with Claire, his main squeeze throughout the rest of the series.

The book follows the same pattern as the other Parker novels. Parker gets together with a crew of thieves, this time to rob a coin convention. They plan the job, go in to execute it, and things get messed up along the way — which necessitates Parker killing a couple of people.

But the scenes with Claire were what really interested me. Parker is attracted to Claire, and he hooks up with her partly to keep her in line so she’ll keep one of the other crew members in line. Yet, he does feel something for her, even if it’s only a little spark of something. At one point, Parker actually contemplates killing her, and the only real reason they go off into the sunset together is that Claire fits in with Parker’s world — not the other way around. Which is completely in keeping with his character. You can’t help but root for Parker, even if he is a cold-hearted bastard.

So, thumbs up.