Thieves' Dozen (John Dortmunder Series)

by Donald E. Westlake

Overview

Featuring Westlake's hapless hero John Dortmunder, this original compilation of short stories ties in to the author's latest Dortmunder hardcover, "The Road to Ruin."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780446693028
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	04/01/2004
Series:	John Dortmunder Series
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	717,700
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	13 Years

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.

Editorial Reviews

Mystery NOTES Donald E. Westlake's irresistible Thieves' Dozen collects all 10 tales of his hapless thief John Dortmunder, most of which appeared in Playboy. The author provides an amusing introduction as well as an 11th tale, original to this volume, that features his crook hero under a pseudonym or at least a character a lot like Dortmunder.(Apr) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

John Dortmunder, who's been stealing anything that isn't nailed down since 1970 (see above), is probably the reason this thieves' dozen includes only 11 short stories. And if we ever catch up with him and that other perp, Westlake, we're going to make them fork over the rest. Where to begin among these reprints, all making their hardcover debuts? Echt Dortmunder, of course, is "Too Many Crooks," in which the hapless thief participates unintentionally in simultaneous bank robberies. Arnie Albright, the fence sorely in need of a personality implant, pops up in both "Jumble," where he foils a cop sting, then gets duped by Dortmunder, and in "Now What?," a gaudily eventful day in the life of Dortmunder. Andy Kelp turns up in "Horse Laugh" and "A Midsummer Daydream," and the other regulars are always on tap at the O.J. Bar & Grill. Mostly, though, it's all Dortmunder all the time, with nothing but jewels, coins, and purloined cash for company. As for those guys in "Fugue," a bank robbery gone to the dogs, Westlake explains they're mostly the old gang with aliases necessitated by a contract dispute with a movie company, although the Dortmunder wannabe, Ramsey, may have taken on a life of his own. Irresistible. After reading about a certain card game herein, there's probably not a mystery reader alive who wouldn't beg to sit at Dortmunder's poker table.

Kirkus Reviews