There are two prerequisites for reading and enjoying the hilarious Dortmunder novels by the amazingly prolific Donald Westlake: (1) you enjoy watching a fiendishly clever plot unfold, and (2) you love to laugh.
In his 75 years — Westlake died on the last day of the year 2008 — Westlake wrote more than 100 novels and a passel of other books as well. Included were a dozen novels about the hapless career burglar, John Dortmunder, and his cronies, Stan Murch, Andy Kelp, Tiny, and assorted significant others and hangers-on. “Watch Your Back!”, published in 2005, is a good example of the lot.
Watch Your Back! by Donald E. Westlake ★★★★☆
The plot of this book is so convoluted that creating a summary strikes me as a daunting task. Besides, just knowing the plot would spoil the experience of reading it. “Watch Your Back!” is a whole lot of fun. From time to time, I simply couldn’t stop laughing.
As Amazon.com writes about this novel, “In his classic caper novels, Donald E. Westlake turns the world of crime and criminals upside-down: the bad get better, the good get worse, and God save anyone caught between a thief named John Dortmunder and his most improbable plans . . . [W]hen Dortmunder and his clean-up crew get together to plan the heist, they quickly get distracted and suddenly a billionaire from Fifth Avenue and a would-be Tony Soprano from New Jersey have one thing in common: John Dortmunder is after them both at the same time . . . and disaster can’t be far behind.”
For additional reading
You might also enjoy reading about Dortmunder’s last caper, funny to the end. And check out My 17 favorite funny novels.
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