Nobody Runs Forever
Donald Westlake writing as Richard Stark
“Unrepentant antihero Parker breaks yet more laws. Seven poker buddies sit around a table calmly planning a heist until Parker gets up, wrenches off his necktie, and strangles Harbin from behind. Who can blame him? Harbin, turned by the feds, was wearing a wire. The players disband and dump the plan, leaving Parker a little short. Later Dalesio, also left short, outlines a bank job involving four armored trucks, twelve armed guards, and over a million in cash and asks whether Parker wants a piece of it. Sure, there are problems. One is too much pillow talk between two lamebrained amateurs: Elaine, the bank owner’s wife, and Jake, a former employee who has to supply scheduling details. Another is two bounty hunters on Harbin’s trail. Unable to find him for the feds, they’re zeroing in now on the poker players. Still, Parker arranges for materiel, Dalesio scouts the getaway roads, and Elaine shoots Jake to put him in the hospital and give him an alibi—a dumb idea that attracts the attention of Det. Gwen Reversa. One bounty hunter dies and the other switches sides while everyone else converges on the armored-car convoy leaving the bank” - Kirkus
Praise for Nobody Runs Forever
“Stark (aka MWA Grandmaster Donald Westlake) offers lots of bleak fun as well as intriguing physical details of the illegal variety and righteously sharp descriptions of people we pass every day on the street … This stellar series just gets better and better.”
- Publishers Weekly
“Even the secondary figures stand out as clearly defined individuals, and their roles, which may be small, remain key elements in the plot. The tension builds with the thieves' reactions as the story winds tightly toward the ending. Stark's careful control over every element results in a fascinating novel, a look at the true price of crime, and an opportunity to enjoy another book by this master writer.”
- School Library Journal
“[I]f you want to make a killing, Parker’s your kind of guy.”
- Kirkus
“From the necktie party beginning to the flap-flap of police helicopters on his trail at the end, it's another thrill ride worth staying up all night and calling in sick tomorrow morning for”
– Jesse Sublett, The Austin Chronicle