Watch Your Back! - Hardcover

Westlake, Donald E.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0892968028 ISBN 13: 9780892968022

Publisher: Mysterious Press, 2005

Synopsis

After a year on the lam, the return of bumbling thief Dortmunder is a cause celebre. The author's most recent Dortmunder caper. "The Road to Ruin," and the short story collection, "Thieves' Dozen," received rave reviews in the "New York Times Book Review, New York Daily News," and "Kirkus Reviews" (starred review), among other publications.

About this title

About the Author

Donald E. Westlake has written numerous novels over the past thirty-five years under his own name and pseudonyms, including Richard Stark. Many of his books have been made into movies, including The Hunter, which became the brilliant film noir Point Blank, and the 1999 smash hit Payback. He penned the Hollywood scripts for The Stepfather and The Grifters, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Screenplay. The winner of three Edgar awards and a Mystery Writers of America Grand Master, Donald E. Westlake was presented with The Eye, the Private Eye Writers of America's Lifetime Achievement Award, at the Shamus Awards. He lives with his wife, Abby Adams, in rural New York State. For more information, visit his website: www.donaldwestlake.com.

Reviews

Starred Review. John Dortmunder, deadpan burglar extraordinaire, leads a cast of marvelously twisted supporting characters in his stellar 12th outing from MWA Grandmaster Westlake (after 2004's The Road to Ruin). Arnie Albright, a fence so obnoxious his family "intervened" and sent him to Club Med in hopes he'd become more likable, has returned from the resort minimally improved, but having met the man of his dreams—Preston Fareweather, a millionaire who's as comically distasteful as Arnie and who, more importantly, plans to be away from his art-filled New York penthouse indefinitely, on the run from hordes of furious ex-wives. Albright calls in Dortmunder and his pals to take advantage of Fareweather's absence. Meanwhile, Dortmunder has discovered that a New Jersey branch of the mob has been systematically taking over O.J. Bar & Grill, which traditionally hosts Dortmunder's business meetings. While Dortmunder plans the penthouse burglary and tracks down Raphael Medrick, failed manager of the O.J. and compulsive creator of crummy music, Fareweather uses women and lolls on the beach. Events unfold in a delicious sequence, and every step is complemented by great writing, right down to the hilarious exchanges between the regulars hanging out at the O.J. (Apr. 18)
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*Starred Review* Westlake is in fine form in this twelfth comic caper (after 2004's The Road to Ruin) featuring hapless burglar John Dortmunder and his crew of irrepressible ex-cons. This time around, the bumbling lawbreakers (including mildly offensive fence Arnie Albright and fireplug of a thug Tiny) plan to rob the Manhattan penthouse of billionaire reprobate Preston Fareweather (the smug financier is hiding out at Club Med in the Caribbean, bedding young lovelies and desperately trying to forget about his five ex-wives). But when the motley entourage gathers to discuss the heist, they're confronted with the grim reality that their longtime meeting place--The O. J. Bar & Grill--is being squeezed by the Mob. Mayhem ensues as Dortmunder must divide his abbreviated attention span between scoring the booty and saving the pub. A Mystery Writers of America Grand Master and author of more than 50 books (including hard-boiled offerings written under the pseudonym Richard Stark), Westlake renders characters that are delightfully askew. The Mafia types are "swaggering chunks of veal in Day-Glo shirts" and Fareweather's latest bikini-clad bimbo walks with "all her parts in gentle, persistent pulsation." Crime may not pay, but the adventures are always rich in the company of Westlake's men of steal. Allison Block
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Mysterious Press
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0892968028
• ISBN 13: 9780892968022
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320