Books like The Hunter (aka Point Blank and Payback) by Donald E. Westlake
‘The Hunter’ opens the Parker series by placing the hardened thief in the gritty streets of New York City, where he hunts down a betrayer and a money‑taking foe. Westlake’s prose delivers crisp, taut realism and unflinching insight into the criminal underbelly. Parker, rugged and relentless, is a study in focused, amoral proficiency, and his first crime mission sets the tone for a catalog of hard‑boiled thrillers that have become seminal in the genre.
First publish date: 1999
Genre: Crime Fiction/Heist Fiction
Authors: Donald E. Westlake
★
★
★
★
★
0.0 (0 community ratings)
How are these books recommended?
The books recommended for The Hunter (aka Point Blank and Payback) by Donald E. Westlake are shaped by reader interaction. Votes on how closely books relate, user ratings, and community comments all help refine these recommendations and highlight books readers genuinely find similar in theme, ideas, and overall reading experience.
Have you read any of these books?
Your votes, ratings, and comments help improve recommendations and make it easier
for other readers to discover books they’ll enjoy.
Books similar to The Hunter (aka Point Blank and Payback) (28 similar books)
An action-packed thriller about a sports agent who rescues a missing teen golfer during a major golf tournament and uncovers a web of lies and secrets.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Mob-connected loanshark Chili Palmer leaves Miami for Hollywood, chasing a deadbeat client and an opportunity to make a killer movie, only to find the glitter‑filled film world is as treacherous as any mob killing.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Fletch, an unorthodox investigative reporter, takes a high‑stakes assignment from multimillionaire Alan Stanwyk, only to uncover a tangled web that challenges his methods and ethics.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
In "The Day of the Locust," brilliant young set designer Tod Hackett arrives in Los Angeles to work on an Hollywood studio, uncovering the grim underbelly of the motion picture industry.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
James Ellroy’s L.A. Confidential is a hard‑boiled crime novel set in 1950s Los Angeles, following a trio of detectives as they uncover a web of corruption and homicide within the police department.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Elmore Leonard’s fast‑paced crime thriller follows released mobster‑turned‑Hollywood producer Chili Palmer as he navigates the dangerous buzz of the entertainment industry, turning a mid‑day murder into a new film script.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Michael Corleone returns from a three‑year exile in Sicily to re‑enter America alongside young bandit Salvatore Giuliano, whose reckless acts have upset the Sicilian Mafia.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Eddie Coyle, a small‑time gun runner in Boston, must decide whether to betray his boss, Jimmy Scalisi, when police officer Foley presses him for cooperation while bartender‑turned contract killer Dillon pretends to be his ally.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Parker must outwit a sinister plot while trapped in a deserted amusement park closed for the winter.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
A.J. Raffles, a dashing gentleman thief of late Victorian England, captivates with his jewel heists and cunning escapes, assisted by loyal friend Bunny Manders.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Parker, the ruthless antihero of Donald E. Westlake's hard‑boiled series, becomes the ultimate heister as he challenges the mob in a relentless, tense crime saga.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
A daring London hunter, Christopher Argent, gets targeted by fate when his latest job is to eliminate the celebrated actress Millie LeCour. Their forbidden romance sparks a dangerous battle of love and loyalty.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Parker, a seasoned con artist, finds himself locked in a high‑security correctional center where bail‑denied inmates wait for trial. His first move: unite the prisoners and orchestrate a daring escape to the outside world.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
FBI special agent Pierce Quincy teams with ex‑cop Rainie Connor to chase a psychopathic killer who preys on the minds of his victims, forcing them to confront the darkest fears close to home.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
In the fourth Parker novel, the investigator finds himself confronting the KGB while tracking a stolen statue from a 15th‑century French tomb.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Parker, the ruthless antihero of Donald Westlake’s crime series, goes under the knife to escape a mob contract and pulls off his biggest heist yet: a New Jersey armored car full of cash.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Parker, the relentless thief, schemes to retrieve a heist’s stolen money hidden in an unused church choir loft, confronting law and rival gangsters in a high‑stakes chase.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Matthew Scudder faces a new death‑row investigation that pulls him into a web of murders threatening his own family, pushing the New York‑based detective to the edge of mortality and suspense.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
A bumbling thief, Dortmunder, returns from the wild, sparking a police chase and a series of crimes across the city.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Detective Harry Bosch investigates a drug-related death in Los Angeles.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Parker escapes a botched country‑town bank robbery, only to be pursued by a shotgun‑armed local who offers him a partnership in a new heist.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Private Parker is the schemer behind a daring payroll heist at a U.S. military base, weaving crime and cunning into a high‑stakes Western caper.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
When emissaries from a small African nation hire Parker to recover half of their wealth in diamonds, he must navigate dangerous territory to outwit rivals and secure the gems.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Detective Parker orchestrates a daring heist with a crew of seasoned thieves to seize control of a wealthy, secluded North Dakota town.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Some Other Similar Books
The Killing Kind by John GilmoreThe Dirty Red by James Sallis
The Killers by Ernest Hemingway
The Outfit by Curt Gentry
Stealing Faces by Robert McCammon
Have a similar book in mind? Let others know!
Please login to submit books!