Point Blank, Richard Stark.
“Point Blank” is the hardest of the hard boiled pulp-noir thrillers. It was originally released under the name “The Hunter”, probably a more appropriate title, made into the classic film with Lee Marvin and then again as the not-so classic “Payback” with Mel Gibson.
“Point Blank” is the first of 26 ‘Parker’ novels that Richard Stark wrote. Parker is a career criminal, hard nosed, brutal and methodical. He is the archetypal noir gangster, as popularised by writers such as Elmore Leonard. He is also mean, selfish, focused and has no real redeeming features that I can identify. In many ways it is hard to understand why this book is so compelling. The plot is incredibly simple, there are no pleasant characters at all, and if you can identify with Parker it is purely for his unequivocal desire for revenge.
It begins with him begin released from prison, where he has been held under a false name for vagrancy and follows him as he tracks down his wife and ex-partner who shot him and left him for dead and stole his share of the robbery they all committed. When Parker realises Mal used the money to pay his debts to a shady criminal organisation called the Syndicate he works his way through them too, each murder taking him higher to the top in search of his missing $40,000.
Stark makes no attempt to flower the story up or to apply any sort of moral compass to it at all. Parker was betrayed by these people and he will kill them and continue killing them until he gets his money back. Parker should be a one-dimensional character, an unpleasant one at that, but he is so single-minded in his mission that you find yourself cheering him on, as he strangles, shoots and beats his way through a gallery of petty criminals.
In many ways the sheer velocity of the prose helps; there is not a single word in the book that needn’t be there and there is no attempt to add back story, flashback or subtle character nuances. Parker is a simple and blunt man and the writing matches that. There is no maliciousness in his actions, he is doing what he needs to do in order to achieve the goal he has set himself and the same could be applied to Stark’s writing. This is stripped back prose at its best- any less and there wouldn’t even be a book.
Of course this lack of style is a style in itself, a much copied one at that, and is certainly a hard skill to pull off with this level of effectiveness.
Whether this book would get released now is a different matter and I can’t see many publishing houses taking a risk on a book with such a fundamentally unrepentant character at it’s core. But this is a critiscm on the risk adverse nature of the publishing industry rather than “Point Blank”.
“Point Blank” is an absolute classic, one that has often been copied, but never bettered and anyone who wants a place to start with hard-boiled crime fiction need look no further.
Because you can’t talk about “Point Blank” without talking about Parker.
Because you can’t talk about Parker without talking about Richard Stark (Donald Westlake).
Because Richard Stark is one of my favorite authors.
Because “the Hunter” is one of my favorite books.
Because jaymemollart did a very nice write up.
Because it is awesome.
#pointblank #richardstark #thehunter #awesome
