Lives of Crime

NEWSWEEK: [To Westlake] Do you ever sit there worrying, is there a point beyond which I will lose the reader’s tolerance for such a coldblooded protagonist?

Westlake: Every once in a while I’ll ask my wife, is this too far? Usually it’s all right. But no, when I’m doing it, I’m doing it for myself. The whole last part of “Comeback” was this struggle between Parker and this other guy in an aban­doned, empty house. And finally it’s all over with and Parker goes to the other people who’re going to drive him away and he gets into the back
seat, and the driver says, “ ‘Did you see George?’ ‘Yes,’ Parker said.” And that’s the end of the
book. The whole 75 pages of the struggle is summed up in “ ‘Yes,’ Parker said.” I was pleased with that. I don’t care who else is reading it. I thought, yeah! OK!

Banville: Do you have any criminal “experience”? I mean, you don’t know crooks, you don’t know gangsters?

Westlake: Minimally. And not for a long time.

Banville: In my book, there’s no criminal world. Just these people who’ve got themselves into a bit of trouble. No one’s actually a criminal per se. There’s no professionalism.

Westlake: No, but there is the weight of that Catholic hierar­chy ultimately. And we haven’t
asked this question yet: the choice of this particular peri­od—Ireland in the ’50s?