Backflash, Paperback

After the publication of Butcher's Moon 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 novels that followed showed that neither Parker nor Stark had lost a step.

Backflash finds 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 a great cast of heisters, a striking setting, and a new introduction by Westlake's close friend and writing partner, Lawrence Block, this classic Parker adventure deserve a place of honor on any crime fan's bookshelf.