[OYF]⇒ Read Free Lemons Never Lie Hard Case Crime Mass Market Paperback Richard Stark Donald E Westlake 9780843955941 Books

Lemons Never Lie Hard Case Crime Mass Market Paperback Richard Stark Donald E Westlake 9780843955941 Books

Download As PDF : Lemons Never Lie Hard Case Crime Mass Market Paperback Richard Stark Donald E Westlake 9780843955941 Books

Lemons Never Lie Hard Case Crime Mass Market Paperback Richard Stark Donald E Westlake 9780843955941 Books

Publication date: 1971

22 22 22 22 22 22 22. Grofield thought, I must be crazy. What the hell am I stamping the prices on these things for? But he couldn’t help it. He couldn’t knowingly do a bad job; stamp the wrong price on each can, put the canned goods on the wrong shelves, put them up with no prices stamped on them at all. He had found the spot where Hal had been working, and had simply continued where Hal had left off. Spaghetti sauce. Twenty-two cents. Therefore: 22 22 22 22 22 22 22.

While I can't deny that this book can be enjoyed on the level of 'pure entertainment,' I would beg to differ with the reviewers who have called this a 'straightforward' crime novel. 'Richard Stark' was a classicist, and he delighted as an artist, in mastering the restrictions of form.

Most of the action in this 'straightforward crime novel' takes place offstage- maybe even all of it:

... He circled the area, and half an hour later he couldn’t resist driving back that way to see how it had worked out. Sometimes a fire is a tougher thing to start than it should be. A state trooper was in the road a quarter mile from the house, directing traffic down a side road detour. Grofield stopped and stuck his head out and called, “What’s the matter, officer?”
“Just keep moving,” the trooper said.
“Yes, sir,” Grofield said, and made the turn, following the other shunted traffic. He didn’t get to see the house at all.

Moreover, the theme of this novel, although its own terms are "amateur" and "professional," is really "romantic" vs. "classic." What is Meyers, the villain, the man with elaborate plans, an 'explosive' mind, and willingness to cut throats as the first resort, but a hopeless romantic? And could the following conversation be any more restrained?:

“People that come to me are professionals. They want guns in their line of work.”
“I’m in the same line of work.”
“But you aren’t working now.”
Grofield shrugged. “No, I’m not.”
Recklow frowned, and shook his head. “I don’t think I want to sell to you.”
“Why not?”
“A professional won’t go spraying bullets around. He wants the gun to use if he has to, to show if he has to. I don’t like a man to use a gun to work a mad off.”
“I’m still a professional,” Grofield said, pushing the words over the sound of the water. He echoed Recklow’s smile of a minute ago and said, “I have to drum somebody out of the corps.”

The Grofield books are always interesting to a Parker fan, because they seem transposed, somehow. Variations on a theme, but still, always, classical.


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Lemons Never Lie Hard Case Crime Mass Market Paperback Richard Stark Donald E Westlake 9780843955941 Books Reviews

One of the BEST Alan Grofield novels written by Stark/Westlake! Thoroughly enjoyed it, front to back.

London, England seller was TOP-NOTCH as well. Extremely satisfied.
Lemons Never Lie is a terrific crime tale originally written under the Richard Stark name. Don't pick this up if you have anything pressing you need to do.

Grofield is not your usual criminal. That's part of what makes Westlake's fiction so interesting. Grofield's passion is summer stock theater. He and his wife, Mary, have got an old barn that's been converted to a theater, but are so hard up for cash that they rent out their residential properties most of the year and sleep on the stage sets. In the summer, they kick their tenants out and house their actors. But, its how Grofield pays for his artistic fantasies that is interesting. Sometimes he drives into Kentucky and passes bad paper, but he doesn't enjoy doing that because he feels its an inappropriate use of his acting schools and cheapens it for him.

Grofield does "jobs" to earn his bread. He flies to Las Vegas to meet with four or five others and hear Myers' plans for a job. Myers is not your usual crook, though, as he basically comes equipped with photos and powerpoint displays. The job is odd and Grofield is not comfortable with it. Myers has found one place in the country where a payroll robbery will still work, one place where the workers are still paid in cash every week, not by paycheck. It's an old brewery up in Maine near the Canadian border. Myers has cased this little town and figures he will set some fires and then enter the plant with a fire engine and make off with the payroll, escaping with the loot across the border. The plan never takes off when some of the group walks out, gambling at the tables and winning big on their way out of the casino. There is a falling out and Myers has made some permanent enemies as he skedaddles out of town.

Grofield returns home to his small Indiana town and soon hears of another job, although things are a little dicey with his real "work" making an appearance in his safe hometown and Grofield doesn't like to bring his work home. It's a professional job in St Louis, a market robbery, and the story takes the reader step by step through the job.

Of course, the fight with Myers foreshadows what comes later with an ultimate showdown.

It is a well-told story that can be finished in just a few hours. There is a lot of conversation that moves the plot along (sort of in the Elmore Leonard tradition) and you wouldn't think it, but the story moves along quite rapidly. Highly recommended. Thanks to Hard Case Crime for republishing this classic work.
Publication date 1971

22 22 22 22 22 22 22. Grofield thought, I must be crazy. What the hell am I stamping the prices on these things for? But he couldn’t help it. He couldn’t knowingly do a bad job; stamp the wrong price on each can, put the canned goods on the wrong shelves, put them up with no prices stamped on them at all. He had found the spot where Hal had been working, and had simply continued where Hal had left off. Spaghetti sauce. Twenty-two cents. Therefore 22 22 22 22 22 22 22.

While I can't deny that this book can be enjoyed on the level of 'pure entertainment,' I would beg to differ with the reviewers who have called this a 'straightforward' crime novel. 'Richard Stark' was a classicist, and he delighted as an artist, in mastering the restrictions of form.

Most of the action in this 'straightforward crime novel' takes place offstage- maybe even all of it

... He circled the area, and half an hour later he couldn’t resist driving back that way to see how it had worked out. Sometimes a fire is a tougher thing to start than it should be. A state trooper was in the road a quarter mile from the house, directing traffic down a side road detour. Grofield stopped and stuck his head out and called, “What’s the matter, officer?”
“Just keep moving,” the trooper said.
“Yes, sir,” Grofield said, and made the turn, following the other shunted traffic. He didn’t get to see the house at all.

Moreover, the theme of this novel, although its own terms are "amateur" and "professional," is really "romantic" vs. "classic." What is Meyers, the villain, the man with elaborate plans, an 'explosive' mind, and willingness to cut throats as the first resort, but a hopeless romantic? And could the following conversation be any more restrained?

“People that come to me are professionals. They want guns in their line of work.”
“I’m in the same line of work.”
“But you aren’t working now.”
Grofield shrugged. “No, I’m not.”
Recklow frowned, and shook his head. “I don’t think I want to sell to you.”
“Why not?”
“A professional won’t go spraying bullets around. He wants the gun to use if he has to, to show if he has to. I don’t like a man to use a gun to work a mad off.”
“I’m still a professional,” Grofield said, pushing the words over the sound of the water. He echoed Recklow’s smile of a minute ago and said, “I have to drum somebody out of the corps.”

The Grofield books are always interesting to a Parker fan, because they seem transposed, somehow. Variations on a theme, but still, always, classical.