The Blackbird
An Alan Grofield Novel, Book 3
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The Blackbird
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Narrated by:
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R.C. Bray
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Written by:
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Richard Stark
About this listen
Donald E. Westlake is one of the greats of crime fiction. Under the pseudonym Richard Stark, he wrote 24 fast-paced, hardboiled novels featuring Parker, a shrewd career criminal with a talent for heists. Using the same nom de plume, Westlake also completed a separate series in the Parker universe, starring Alan Grofield, an occasional colleague of Parker. While he shares events and characters with several Parker novels, Grofield is less calculating and more hot-blooded than Parker; think fewer guns, more dames.
Not that there isn’t violence and adventure aplenty.... The third Grofield novel, The Blackbird shares its first chapter with Slayground: after a traumatic car crash, Parker eludes the police, but Grofield gets caught. Lying injured in the hospital, Grofield is visited by G-men who offer him an alternative to jail, and he finds himself forced into a deadly situation involving international criminals and a political conspiracy.
©1967 Richard Stark (P)2013 AudioGOWhat the critics say
What listeners say about The Blackbird
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- presterjohn1
- 2024-12-12
Grofield is out of his milieu
An international spy caper is not quite the right niche for Grofield and I really just didn't buy this one. I was entertained, but the first two novels in the series were significantly better. That said, I still appreciate Stark's prose and storytelling ability.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Langer MD
- 2022-03-10
Needs a Female Character
This Richard Stark story is undeniably entertaining. Alan Grofield is a raucously fun adventurer - assisting his Federal Government in this one to uncover and stop a conspiracy of Third-world forces to develop a terrorism threat to Canada & the USA. The plot is a bit of an overreach (Grofield is a relatively low-level criminal - not a James Bond-like international superspy), but it's a fast-paced rollercoaster-ride. The setting is well-described, the action is well-scripted, and the dialogue is enjoyably humorous.
What the story really lacks, however, is a pretty girl for the protagonist to impress. Part of the fun of the character (in previous novels, at least) is his noncommital chivalry.
R.C Bray is.. R.C Bray.
Spot-on pacing, diction, timbre, cadence, tone, and voice-acting.
This installment in the 'Grofield' series rates 9 stars out of 10. It is a *Huge* bonus that it's available for free.. because 'The Blackbird' actually rates a Credit if you're looking for some distracting - if moderately silly - fun.
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1 person found this helpful