Dirty Money is a tad slower-paced than most of the other Parker novels, but the author spends some time exposing the world of money laundering, one of the biggest white collar crimes currently going on. I found it interesting, but I missed the gunplay and the tension. I like the books most when Parker is up against the wall, trying to figure out how to keep himself from getting killed by “partners” or captured by the police or other bad guys.
The money from the armored car job has been marked. Parker knows it’s not worth recovering. However, there’s a money launderer willing to give him a cut on the cash and he’ll move it overseas where the marked money won’t get found out as easily.
From that point on, the book turns into a chess match between Parker, his partners, an FBI agent, and the local police. Maybe the action isn’t quite up to par, but this is Parker. I still like watching him work, and Stark/Westlake’s pared-down prose reads so easily I was done before I knew it. It’s a great book for fans, but I’d recommend reading some of the earlier novels to readers that haven’t met Parker before.
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