If you have never read his stuff, prepare to be amazed. He wrote a series of comic-crime capers about a hapless thief named John Dortmunder that are just hillarious. He wrote another series under the name Richard Stark about a hardcore criminal named Parker (Payback w/Mel Gibson and, Point blank w/my hero Lee Marvin were based on the novel.) He also managed to write a few stand-alone novels such as KAHAWA, which is just an outstanding story.