Richard Stark

Donald E. Westlake was a prolific and award-winning mystery author, who throughout his lifetime managed to pen down more than 100 books and five screenplays using his manual typewriter. Mr. Donald Edward Westlake is considered as one of the most versatile and successful mystery writers of all time. He has not only received an Academy Award nomination for one of his screenplays, but he has also been awarded three Edgar Awards together with the Grand Master title by the Mystery Writers of America. Ever since Random House published his first novel, The Mercenaries in the year 1960, Mr. Donald Westlake had already authored under his real names and pseudonyms including Richard Stark, Samuel Holt, Tucker Coe and Edwin West. Irrespective of the diversity of the pen names, a majority of his books shared one common feature; they were all set in the city of New York, which is the author’s birthplace.