That’s the second in his loose American trilogy (which aren’t really connected except the presence of Zuckerman recounting the main character’s story). Oh and The Breast just for giggles (a Kafka parody, really short and dirty, just like my dick).

Chigurh wasn’t referencing anything, the writer of that article conjectured that Anton was written as a version of Parker. Which frankly is a real stretch. There is a female version of Parker in Godard’s Made in the USA (none other than his long time gal and frequent star Anna Karina).

Obviously you should read the graphic novels by Darwyn Cooke first, but here are
my thoughts on the first 9 Parker novels, if anyone cares:

1 - 3

The Hunter/The Man With the Getaway Face/The Outfit - The rest of the books are standalones, but while the first three can be read that way, they’re better read together as a three act play.

Parker was originally intended to die at the end of the first novel but Westlake’s editor recognized a potentially hot property and convinced Donald into continuing the saga. Thus Parker comes across as brutally less likable (not that he ever was cuddly), a mean spirited amoral psycho who lashes out in rage, beats up women, and cold bloodedly defaces his wife’s corpse after she commits suicide so the cops will spend so much time trying to identify her that he can buy time for a clean getaway. You’re not supposed to be on his side and he gets his just desserts in the end. That was the original plan, but Westlake had to change the original ending, so…

After the events of the first novel, Parker has to get plastic surgery to evade capture by both the cops and the mob. Only someone kills the surgeon to cover up any loose ends (notice how this plot reminds you of Face/Off with Travolta and Nic Cage?)....

The third act sees him confront the Outfit (based on the real crime syndicate headquartered in Chicago in the midcentury), to call off their vendetta against him due to the events in The Hunter. He does so by killing off the boss, thus leaving the second in line in Parker’s debt. Robert Duvall was allegedly miscast in The Outfit but I’ve never seen it.

5

The Score is the quintessential Parker novel. He heads a crew that is assembled to heist an entire isolated mining town - all the banks, payrolls, and stores - in one night. It’s fun because of the ensemble cast, most notably for introducing playboy actor Alan Grofield, who received 4 spinoff novels. And a literally explosive, over the top climax.

7

The Seventh (aka The Split in the film version) - The title is a pun on Parker’s share of the crew’s split from robbing the gate proceeds from a stadium college football game. But that’s only a small part of the novel. The real meat is the guy who steals the money from where Parker’s been stashing it in suitcases - after confronting and killing Parker’s current bedmate (I hesitate to use the word girlfriend). The cash is just an added bonus to the jilted ex-lover, a prototype for the wimpy “nice guy” incel we see so much of today. So Parker and the rest of the crew try to track him down. This one is notable for the high body count (everybody dies except you know who) and the pathetic repulsiveness of the whiny antagonist. Also notable for stone faced Parker cracking a laugh for the first time.

6

The Jugger - This one’s a bit of a Jim Thompson homage featuring a crooked small town Midwestern cop as the main villain. Westlake claimed that it was his worst Parker novel because Parker acted out of character and actually tried to help someone, but - he was wrong.

4

8

The Mourner, The Handle: These two are a bit left field in that they deal with international espionage - more MI6 than MI5, CIA than FBI. A bit out of Parker’s comfort zone and it shows, but still entertaining. If Westlake had followed the formula for every single novel it would’ve grown real stale real fast.

9

The Rare Coin Score - A relatively weak entry in the series, with again the actual heist being secondary to the main subplot: it’s here that Parker meets his second “wife” (they never legally marry because Parker has no legal identity, being a wanted fugitive.) Now’s the best time to delve into Parker’s sex life. As a sociopath, he has no real feelings for other people, only animal urges. During the planning and execution of a job, he has no interest in sex whatsoever. Jane Greer herself could waltz into his hotel room naked & hoisting a bottle of champagne and Parker would slam the door in her face. But after he’s finished a job, he becomes hungry like the wolf. He spends his loot holed up most of the year in resort hotels in Florida or someplace, bedding a number of anonymous women that he clearly doesn’t care for but satisfy his needs. After a few months, he gets bored and he feels the itch to get back to his day job of good honest thievery again. Claire, however, upsets his mating cycle and he starts experiencing these weird ferlings he hasn’t had since the death of Wife #1 (see The Hunter). Oh, and one of the guys on the heist crew is another whiny incel, a rare coin nerd who’d be a comic book/video game nerd if he’d been born in another era.

There’s an excellent website that goes into waaay more exhaustive detail on seemingly every book Donald E. Westlake ever wrote, with special care for the Parkers.

https://thewestlakereview.wordpress.com/

And those weren’t Westlake’s most popular books, actually. Those would be the Dortmunder series, which he started after he’d grown bored with Parker in the 1970s. They’re the sunny yang to Parker’s dark yin: broadly comic tales of a lovable heist crew, without the ultraviolence and menace of the Parker series. #1 The Hot Rock is easily the best of the 4 I’ve read so far and obviously the ideal entry point. (Robert Redford was cast in a flop film version. Redford vs Lee Marvin - that underlines the differences between the series nicely.)