THE SCORE - Richard Stark

Is it possible to rob an entire city? If that city is Copper Canyon, and the heist is planned by Parker, on of the best in the business, it just might be possible. The idea is brought to Parker who initially dismisses it, but after careful consideration, he begins to make a plan. The heist will need a team of people and of course the more people in on it, the less each man takes.

A mining town in the middle of nowhere, with only one way in and out of the town, Parker gets to work on a plan and hiring a team. Given the specific needs, he needs specific men - some of them no longer available so going to second and third options.  Each man will need to accomplish his job with clockwork precision but by all measures, it should work.  

Parker believes he has everything planned for a perfect heist ... but he never planned for the blonde.

This was a really fast-moving, straight-forward story.  An idea, a plan, the plan in action, the hiccup.  There's no sub-plot and until we get into the heist itself, when we get to see some of the different men in action, it's quite singularly focused.

There is some curiosity and interest in how this is going to work, but at least the first half of the book (maybe the first 2/3rds) is plan, plan, plan. The book picks up a bit when the heist actually gets underway. We know that something has to go wrong (or at least we hope that's the case or this would be even more boring than it already is) so our curiosity is piqued a bit.

For the most part, this book just never captured my interest.  Or, rather, it let my interest down. The idea of robbing an entire town sounded interesting, but the very direct manner of storytelling didn't really serve the excitement for this reader.

Looking for a good book? The Score by Richard Stark is a direct, fast-paced story of a huge heist. There's not much going on beyond what happens on the page and the thrill doesn't hold over for long.

I received a digital copy of this book as part of a collection of books, from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

2-1/2 stars

* * * * * *

The Score

author: Richard Stark

series: Parker #5

publisher: Pocket Books

paperback, 213 pages
 

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