 Westlake originally intended "The Hot Rock" to feature his character Parker and to publish it under his Richard Stark pseudonym.However, the plot involves a precious gem that is stolen, lost, reacquired, stolen again, lost again (and so forth), which seemed too comic a situation for a hard-boiled creation like Parker.Westlake therefore rewrote the novel with a more bumbling and likable cast of characters, led by a pessimistic, hard-luck professional thief.