The Blackbird by Richard Stark

(pb; 1969, 2012: third novel in the Alan Grofeld series. Foreword by Sarah Weinman.)

From the back cover:

"Both Parker and his sometimes associate, Alan Grofeld, are pros when it comes to stealing loot and staging heists.  But where Parker is cold and calculating, Grofeld is slick, funny and flirtatious - a criminal Casanova.  The Blackbird shares its first chapter with the Parker novel Slayground: after a traumatic car crash, Parker eludes the police, but Grofeld gets caught. Lying injured in the hospital, Grofeld is visited by G-Men who offer him an alternative to jail, and he finds himself forced into a deadly situation involving international criminals and a political conspiracy."


Review:

Blackbird is my favorite Grofeld novel thus far - not only is it humorous, action-packed, James Bond-esque and tightly written, it also ties other elements (including some of their more intriguing characters) from previous Grofeld books into this fast-moving tie-together story, which is attention-getting from its first word to its last.  Like every Stark work I've read this is worth owning.

Followed by Lemons Never Lie.