As those of you who read the blog know, I keep a running tab of all the books I’ve read. I’m up to 850 so far. I finished a book this weekend I’d already read (although I don’t remember reading it before). So, to keep the numbers right between my database and blog, I’m going to review this one without giving it a number. Make sense? 

Anyway, I finished The Jugger by Richard Stark (aka Donald E. Westlake). This is one in his long-running series about Parker, a professional thief who’d just as soon kill you as look at you if you get in his way.

In this one, Parker travels to the Midwest to check on an old safeman (a jugger) named Joe Sheer who’s gotten into some trouble. When Parker gets to town, Joe’s dead, and there are several people looking for the old man’s money stash, including a greedy cop. Parker has to find a way to smooth over the situation — especially when other people start turning up dead.

I didn’t particularly like the framing device in this one. Parker starts out in the middle of the action and only later do we get to see what brought him to town in the first place. There’s also a lot of flashbacks used to describe the relationship between the greedy cop and Joe Sheer.

Overall, not Stark’s (Westlake’s) best effort, but Parker is always entertaining — especially watching him figure all the angles and take the one that works out best for him.

So, thumbs up. 

Up next: The Seventh by Richard Stark.

Finished the first of my Christmas books — Cold as Ice by Anne Stuart.

This is the second book in Stuart’s Ice romantic suspense series, featuring the men and women of the Committee — a group dedicated to stopping terrorists and the like. In this one, lawyer Genevieve Spenser is sent to get billionaire Harry Van Dorn to sign some documents. Of course, Genevieve has no idea Harry is a psychotic terrorist or that Committee agent Peter Jensen is under orders to kidnap and kill Harry. Genevieve being there messes up Peter’s perfect plan, but the operative (aka the Iceman) plans to follow through with his mission — no matter what.

I liked Peter a lot better than I did Bastien in Black Ice, and Genevieve was a much more wordly and stronger heroine than Chloe. But I can’t say that I liked the book as a whole more than Black Ice. Perhaps this was because I’d read Stuart before and knew what to expect. Also, some of the twists at the end struck me as bordering on the ridiculous and physically impossible, like Van Dorn escaping yet another Committee trap.

Still, there was a lot to like about this book. Stuart has a very fluid, easy-to-read style, and some of her descriptions are just wonderful. The dialogue between Genevieve and Peter was smart and snappy.

So, thumbs up.

Up next: Not sure yet. I really need to start working on my own stuff again. I’ve been playing hooky since mid-December, and it’s time to gear up and think about what I want to write next …