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Title: Drowned Hopes by Donald E. Westlake ISBN: 0-446-40006-8 Publisher: Warner Books Pub. Date: 01 April, 1991 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.27 (11 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Westlake is the best
Comment: It's not entirely accurate for me to be reviewing just "Drowned Hopes" because, truly, *all* of Donald E. Westlake's comic crime novels are wonderful and entertaining. Don't limit yourself to just this one book (though "Drowned Hopes" is definitely among the better ones, as it features Dortmunder and his hapless crime syndicate). Since many of Westlake's books seem to be out of print at the moment, the library is probably your best bet to catch up on these treasures. But let's start a new campaign to reissue all of Westlake's books!
Rating: 4
Summary: Westlake's a weirdo
Comment: Drowned Hopes is a very odd story with Westlake's famous
character John Dortmunder under the influence of an aged
ex-convict Tom. Westlakes successfully ties in subtle bits
of humor into the novel's strange plot. Decent book.
Rating: 2
Summary: Poor Plans, Ineptness and a Nasty Villain Mar the Story
Comment: Drowned Hopes presents Dortmunder with a special challenge. His old cell-mate, Tom Jimson, is released from prison unexpectedly to ease crowding, and seeks out Dortmunder to rescue a stash of $700,000 buried in a casket under 50 feet of water in an upstate New York reservoir. Tom's the nastiest con to ever visit behind bars. He's rather kill than think. If Dortmunder can't come up with a slick plan, Jimson plans to dynamite the reservoir's dam and drown hundreds in the process.
The book then details the many schemes, preparations and efforts involved in attempting to recover the casket.
I found this book to be a big disappointment. Dortmunder novels are usually very interesting because Dortmunder comes up with plans to steal that are ingenious. It's only the fickle finger of fate that fouls him up, with something that no one could expect.
Uncharacteristically in Drowned Hopes, Dortmunder only comes up with plans that are obviously not going to work based on his poor planning, preparation and execution of the plans. So it's like watching the Keystone Kops as robbers rather than a Dortmunder novel. As a result, the book only provided moments of interesting plot developments for me. To give you some sense of how ridiculous the plans are, the third one that Dortmunder comes up with is probably the one you would have thought of in 30 seconds.
Another problem with the story is that Tom is too nasty a character. It's just plain unpleasant to read about him and what he has done.
The book's final problem is that it moves v . . . e . . . r . . . y s . . . l . . . o . . . w . . . l . . . y. There is not as much good material here as in a Dortmunder 240 page novel, but this one is 422 pages long.
Unless you feel compelled to read all the Dortmunder novels, I suggest you skip this one.
If you do decide to read the book, think about other places where more is less such as eating three pizzas rather then one, or walking 15 miles in a day rather than five. Where could your life benefit from doing less?
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Title: Bank Shot by Donald E. Westlake ISBN: 0671211803 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 01 April, 1972 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
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Title: The Hot Rock (Westlake, Donald E. Dortmunder Series.) by Donald E. Westlake ISBN: 0446677035 Publisher: Mysterious Press Pub. Date: 01 April, 2001 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Don't Ask (Dortmunder Novels (Paperback)) by Donald E. Westlake ISBN: 0446400955 Publisher: Warner Books Pub. Date: 01 July, 1994 List Price(USD): $7.50 |
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Title: Good Behavior by Donald E. Westlake, Richard Stark ISBN: 0812510607 Publisher: Tor Books (Mm) Pub. Date: 01 January, 1988 List Price(USD): $3.95 |
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Title: What's the Worst That Could Happen? (Dortmunder Novels (Paperback)) by Donald E. Westlake ISBN: 0446604712 Publisher: Warner Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 1997 List Price(USD): $6.50 |
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