The Hunter | Literary Precedents

The Hunter Literary Precedents

Although Parker is a compellingly individualized example of the thriller hero, he is clearly a product of the Black Mask-Hammett-Chandler line of hard-boiled detectives. Parker is of course on the other side of the law, but like the typical "private dick," he is well aware of the fine and easily crossable line that separates the good guys from the bad guys; and Parker also shares the conviction that stirring up action produces far better results than does armchair detection. Parker's aversion to sentimental feeling, which is carried to a point dangerously near self-parody in later novels in the series, is the final link in a chain which firmly connects him to such archetypal hardboiled heroes as Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe.