Watch Your Back!

Starred review from March 14, 2005
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.

Starred review from March 1, 2005
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.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)