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DagwoodIII@piefed.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago

[off topic]

Here are a few book series that have a tough, lone wolf hero who actually seems human.

Parker by Richard Stark. ‘The Hunter,’ ‘The Seventh,’ and ‘Firebreak’ Parker is a professional thief. He works with a rotating crew of specialists. Harlan Ellison said that the author was the best writer he knew of.

Easy Rawlins and Fearless Jones by Walter Mosley. ‘Fearless Jones’ and ‘The Devil In a Blue Dress.’ Both men operate in LA circa 1946 to 1980. Fearless’ adventures are narrated by his pal, a skinny bookstore owner who would rather avoid trouble, but rarely does. Easy is in more books, but they do team up occasionally.

Travis McGee by John D. MacDonald. ‘The Deep Blue Goodbye,’ and ‘A Tan and Sandy Silence.’ Trav is a Florida beach bum who lives in a houseboat he won in a poker game. When his retirement funds run low he reluctantly seeks out crime victims who are unable to go to the police. A con man who isn’t afraid of a fight.

Any of these is miles ahead of any Reacher book.

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Sparrow_1029@programming.dev ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago
There’s also the graphic novel adaptations of Richard Stark’s Parker books, beautifully illustrated by the late great Darwyn Cooke

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- DagwoodIII@piefed.social ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  I am in awe of those comics. Better than any movie adaptation, including Lee Marvin’s.
  
  Cooke’s style is perfect for this.
  
  I’ll just add that he also did a fantastic job on Justice League - New Frontiers
  
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UsefulIdiot@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago
Hell yes brother.

Richard Stark is a pen name for Donald Westlake. He wrote tons of really smart funny mystery novels including the Dortmunder series - Parker but a sad sack.

If you like Parker you might really enjoy the Spenser novels by Robert Parker. He’s an ex boxer turned private eye that loves to cook, loves to read, has a strong moral compass, loves deeply, and was cool with gays and blacks when that was controversial for a Boston tough guy. His very smart girlfriend Susan is a full human outside of him.

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- DagwoodIII@piefed.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago
  The funny thing is that the first Dortmunder book started out as a Parker novel.
  
  When the plot started getting too silly the writer realized that the Parker fans would hate the book, so he changed it to Dortmunder and Kelp.
  
  I won’t say much but ‘Jimmy The Kid’ by Donald Westlake has a brief cameo by Richard Stark.
  
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Bluewing@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago
James Bond is cooler than all of them for sheer fun. But Peter Gunn books is the detective I grew up on. He even came with the coolest of theme song of all time, thanks to Mancini.

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- DagwoodIII@piefed.social ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  I literally had no idea there were Peter Gunn books.
  
  Thanks for raising me from ignorance.
  
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  - Bluewing@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    If you want to really be shocked by Hollywood butchery, watch the Thin Man movies - They are raucous 1930s fun and totally worth it. I’m surprised they haven’t been remade. Then read the book. Hollywood literally just pried the title off for their own use and then burned the character to ashes and launched it in to the sun never to be seen again.
    
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    DagwoodIII@piefed.social ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    It’s funny because I thought the first movie and the book jibed up pretty well. I mean, the part where the cop says ‘that’s a dame with hair on her chest’ came from the book.
    
    I am a long time Hammett fan, and finally got around to seeing ‘Satan Met A Lady.’ It’s very, very loosely based on ‘The Maltese Falcon’ and Bette Davis has a ball playing the femme fatale. It’s wild to see what they kept and what they threw out. For instance, Joel Cairo is replaced by a six foot tall Englishman.
    
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