Butcher's moon (The University of Chicago Press)

The sixteenth Parker novel, "Butcher's Moon" is more than twice as long as most of the master heister's adventures and absolutely jammed with the action, violence, and nerve-jangling tension readers have come to expect. Back in the corrupt town where he lost his money, and nearly his life, in Slayground, Parker assembles a stunning cast of characters from throughout his career for one gigantic, blowout job: starting - and finishing - a gang war. It feels like the Parker novel to end all Parker novels, and for nearly twenty-five years that's what it was. After its publication in 1974, Donald Westlake said, "Richard Stark proved to me that he had a life of his own by simply disappearing. He was gone." And readers waited. But nothing bad is truly gone forever, and Parker's as bad as they come. According to Westlake, one day in 1997, "suddenly, he came back from the dead, with a chalky prison pallor" - and the resulting novel, "Comeback", showed that neither Stark nor Parker had lost a single step. Knocking over a highly lucrative religious revival show, Parker reminds us that not all criminals don ski masks - some prefer to hide behind the wings of fallen angels.Backflash followed soon after, and it found Parker checking out the scene on a Hudson River gambling boat. Parker's no fan of either relaxation or risk, however, so you can be sure he's playing with house money - and he's willing to do anything to tilt the odds in his favor. Featuring three new introductions by Westlake's close friend and writing partner Lawrence Block, these classic Parker adventures deserve a place of honor on any crime fan's bookshelf.