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Dortmunder #7
Dégâts des Eaux
Rentrant chez lui après un cambriolage, Dortmunder découvre avec effroi que son appartement est occupé par un ancien compagnon de cellule que personne n'aurait voulu voir libéré. Quelque temps avant son arrestation, le dénommé Tom Jimson avait réussi un coup dont il avait enterré le produit dans la petite ville de Putkin's Corners. Hélas, pendant qu'il était nourri et logé aux frais de l'Etat, les autorités en ont lâchement profité pour édifier un barrage, précisément là. Résultat, le butin gît sous les vingt mètres d'eau du lac de retenue. Mais Tom a un plan efficace : faire sauter le barrage pour assécher le réservoir. Que la population locale périsse noyée n'est pour lui qu'un détail. Un détail majeur, pense Dortmunder qui va tout faire pour détourner Tom Jimson de son projet... Dégâts des eaux est la preuve manifeste que Westlake, comme Dortmunder, n'hésite pas a se lancer de grands défis. La différence, c'est que Westlake, lui, est toujours gagnant. Ce roman est l'un de ses chefs-d'œuvre.
621 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
233 people are currently reading
707 people want to read
About the author
Donald E. Westlake
434 books954 followersDonald E. Westlake (1933-2008) was one of the most prolific and talented authors of American crime fiction. He began his career in the late 1950's, churning out novels for pulp houses—often writing as many as four novels a year under various pseudonyms such as Richard Stark—but soon began publishing under his own name. His most well-known characters were John Dortmunder, an unlucky thief, and Parker, a ruthless criminal. His writing earned him three Edgar Awards: the 1968 Best Novel award for God Save the Mark; the 1990 Best Short Story award for "Too Many Crooks"; and the 1991 Best Motion Picture Screenplay award for The Grifters. In addition, Westlake also earned a Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America in 1993.
Westlake's cinematic prose and brisk dialogue made his novels attractive to Hollywood, and several motion pictures were made from his books, with stars such as Lee Marvin and Mel Gibson. Westlake wrote several screenplays himself, receiving an Academy Award nomination for his adaptation of The Grifters, Jim Thompson's noir classic.
Some of the pseudonyms he used include
• Richard Stark
• Timothy J. Culver
• Tucker Coe
• Curt Clark
• J. Morgan Cunningham
• Judson Jack Carmichael
• D.E. Westlake
• Donald I. Vestlejk
• Don Westlake
Westlake's cinematic prose and brisk dialogue made his novels attractive to Hollywood, and several motion pictures were made from his books, with stars such as Lee Marvin and Mel Gibson. Westlake wrote several screenplays himself, receiving an Academy Award nomination for his adaptation of The Grifters, Jim Thompson's noir classic.
Some of the pseudonyms he used include
• Richard Stark
• Timothy J. Culver
• Tucker Coe
• Curt Clark
• J. Morgan Cunningham
• Judson Jack Carmichael
• D.E. Westlake
• Donald I. Vestlejk
• Don Westlake
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 159 reviews
September 3, 2021
If it weren't for bad luck....
Crime doesn't pay but it sure is dangerous. Dortmunder and associates attempt to recover the loot from an old armored car heist for the only surviving robber, Tom, a dangerous killer whose partners have a habit of dying.
The problem is that a reservoir has been built on top of the hiding place. Dortmunder, the planner comes up with improbable ways to get at the money but can't catch a break. The reservoir itself seems to be out to kill him not to mention Tom who will try to kill him instead of paying him once and if the money is recovered. Oh, and if Dortmunder and his team don't get to the loot soon enough, Tom plans to dynamite the reservoir dam, killing hundreds of people.
A comic crime caper worth reading.
Crime doesn't pay but it sure is dangerous. Dortmunder and associates attempt to recover the loot from an old armored car heist for the only surviving robber, Tom, a dangerous killer whose partners have a habit of dying.
The problem is that a reservoir has been built on top of the hiding place. Dortmunder, the planner comes up with improbable ways to get at the money but can't catch a break. The reservoir itself seems to be out to kill him not to mention Tom who will try to kill him instead of paying him once and if the money is recovered. Oh, and if Dortmunder and his team don't get to the loot soon enough, Tom plans to dynamite the reservoir dam, killing hundreds of people.
A comic crime caper worth reading.
April 23, 2011
For a series of criminal capers, Westlake’s Dortmunder novels unspool at their own comfortable pace. Readers just sit back and let the whole thing unravel in front of them. The same amusing characters – Andy Kelp, Stan Murch, et al – appear again and again, and it’s like being with friends (shady, criminal and sometimes incompetent friends, but friends nevertheless). That’s not to say that these books lack dramatic tension or suspense, as Westlake will happily take his readers to a point of real jeopardy. These are your friends after all, and you do care what happens to your friends.
An old and very mean cellmate of Dortmunder’s emerges from prison with the tale of how his greatest ever hoard is now buried beneath the soil and water of a large reservoir. He enlists Dortmunder to help him recover it. If Dortmunder fails, the old cellmate will just blow up the reservoir and drown everybody below.
It’s a beautiful scenario of difficult operation versus greed (as well as responsibility to fellow man), and is perfect for Westlake’s laid-back comic set pieces. I’m not spoiling anything by saying that attempt after attempt goes wrong, so that by the end the reader really does empathise with how frazzled Dortmunder is. A particular highlight is the attendance of a low-taste wedding and then – in my favourite plot strand – the activities of the gang unwittingly costing the bridegroom his sanity.
It’s always tempting to compare these books to the work the same writer did under his Richard Stark non de plume, but they come from different directions. The Parker tales are a deadly cut-throat razor on a cold dawn, while the Dortmunder capers are a nice lie-in followed by a hot breakfast later that very same morning.
An old and very mean cellmate of Dortmunder’s emerges from prison with the tale of how his greatest ever hoard is now buried beneath the soil and water of a large reservoir. He enlists Dortmunder to help him recover it. If Dortmunder fails, the old cellmate will just blow up the reservoir and drown everybody below.
It’s a beautiful scenario of difficult operation versus greed (as well as responsibility to fellow man), and is perfect for Westlake’s laid-back comic set pieces. I’m not spoiling anything by saying that attempt after attempt goes wrong, so that by the end the reader really does empathise with how frazzled Dortmunder is. A particular highlight is the attendance of a low-taste wedding and then – in my favourite plot strand – the activities of the gang unwittingly costing the bridegroom his sanity.
It’s always tempting to compare these books to the work the same writer did under his Richard Stark non de plume, but they come from different directions. The Parker tales are a deadly cut-throat razor on a cold dawn, while the Dortmunder capers are a nice lie-in followed by a hot breakfast later that very same morning.
September 8, 2013
I read this book many years ago at the recommendation of a friend. It was my first Dortmunder novel- and the funniest one yet. I just remember that the characters were all well-drawn, each with their own quirks. It was my introduction to 'Murch's mom', an ace driver, as well as the rest of the unlucky gang. I highly recommend it!
April 14, 2012
Apparently there is a whole series of "Dortmunder" books and this isn't the first. It's a mildly amusing crime caper novel, in which Dortmunder is the brains (allegedly) for the underwater salvage of a recently released psycho's spoils from an armed robbery. It would have been a lot better, though, if not for the computer geek and his computer. The book was published in 1990 and the PC was still pretty new-fangled (the first time I used one was only the year before). The computer geek as comedic butt is not so much the problem (but more on that later) as the enormous length of time spent describing the PC and how it works, what you can do with it (play Donkey Kong, for instance), which nobody needs these days, only to be followed by a bunch of highly unrealistic uses and responses from it. (It's as if there's a mind in there that can talk back to the user). It's dated as well as crass.
If you can leave that aside, the rest of it is amusing, particularly the ironic ending, but it's hard to do as the PC takes up far to much space in the book and just when you think you're permanently done with it, it makes a come-back. I suspect that other Dortmunder novels, with no PC obsessions evident might be better than this one.
Back to the computer geek: It's a species that's going extinct. This is because knowing heaps about computers is not the preserve of socially inept obsessives any more. The younger the generation the more computer knowledge is ubiquitous and unremarkable. Electronic computing pervades life now and the people who have grown up in that environment take it for granted. It is normal and familar. The people who know most about it, far from being social pariahs by assumption are celebrated. So the computer geek as comic butt is a concept that is dating rapidly. Other socially inept geeks are replacing them.
If you can leave that aside, the rest of it is amusing, particularly the ironic ending, but it's hard to do as the PC takes up far to much space in the book and just when you think you're permanently done with it, it makes a come-back. I suspect that other Dortmunder novels, with no PC obsessions evident might be better than this one.
Back to the computer geek: It's a species that's going extinct. This is because knowing heaps about computers is not the preserve of socially inept obsessives any more. The younger the generation the more computer knowledge is ubiquitous and unremarkable. Electronic computing pervades life now and the people who have grown up in that environment take it for granted. It is normal and familar. The people who know most about it, far from being social pariahs by assumption are celebrated. So the computer geek as comic butt is a concept that is dating rapidly. Other socially inept geeks are replacing them.
November 13, 2023
At over 400 pages this is significantly longer than the average mystery. In a way I think that detracted from the story somewhat as there were several parts of the story that were just different attempts to do the same thing. After awhile I wanted them to get on with it.
If you have read any other of the Dortmunder books you will know how this ends. A good read with a few laughs and the same bunch of screwball characters.
If you have read any other of the Dortmunder books you will know how this ends. A good read with a few laughs and the same bunch of screwball characters.
June 14, 2019
Substantially longer than previous entries, and less enjoyable for it. The central conceit is good, and the new characters well drawn, but the entire experience is fatiguing in a way previous volumes weren't.
April 3, 2020
Dortmunder's glum fatalism is more justified than ever in this installment, as his conscience gets him in over his head (literally). The poor guy just can't catch a break.
Prison overcrowding means that an old cellmate of Dortmunder's, Tom Jimson, is back in the world, and while Tom might be ready for retirement, he's still a cold-eyed, cold-hearted son-of-a-bitch who doesn't see any reason for the deaths of hundreds of people to get in the way of him retrieving the seven hundred thousand dollars he buried shortly before his incarceration. In the intervening twenty years, the little town where Tom planted the cash was completely flooded out by the building of a dam, and Tom's money is now buried four feet under ground that's also buried fifty feet under the water of a (somewhat inefficiently) guarded reservoir. Tom's plan is simple, and he wants Dortmunder's help in exchange for a promised half of the take. He's going to dynamite the dam, and when the water gushes out of the reservoir and into the nearby towns, he'll just walk through the chaos, dig up the coffin that contains his money, and be on his way to Mexico. Once Dortmunder realizes what Tom's retrieval scheme means for the people of the surrounding area, he wants to bow out, but it's clear that Tom will just find someone else to help him. The world's not short on unscrupulous people willing to indirectly murder others for their own financial gain. If, however, Dortmunder can persuade Tom that there's a subtler, safer way to get the money, Tom will go along with it. He might not care about human life, but it'd be nice to avoid the manhunt.
So Dortmunder is plunged into trying to work out the logistics of an underwater heist. Unsurprisingly, complications ensue: for one thing, it's entirely possible the reservoir is trying to kill him (even the usually optimistic Kelp has to agree the place has it in for Dortmunder specifically), which means his fear of water and his desire to call it quits ratchet up with each unsuccessful attempt. This novel is longer than the usual Dortmunder entries and has to be loaded down with more technical details, thanks to the unusual milieu, but Westlake keeps it moving with high stakes and some memorable new characters. There's Wally, a shy and sweet computer geek who would like to think of all of this as a new kind of RPG; Doug Berry, a down-at-the-heels diving instructor mostly scraping by on his good looks; Myrtle Street, a librarian whose involvement with the plot turns her into a kind of amateur detective (one whose mother now keeps advising her to get laid); and a poor young guard at the reservoir who's slowly being driven mad by encountering Dormunder's crew in various bizarre ways. Kelp and Murch and Tiny are here, as usual, and May and Murch's Mom play a pretty crucial--and clever and hilarious--role.
This maybe runs a tad too long, and the trail of destruction Tom has left behind him is sometimes so bleak that it throws off the overall tone. Wally's computer is basically magic--though the running gag of it continuously using his game data in his real-life models, leading to the suggestion that they use spaceships from Zog to retrieve the treasure from the reservoir, amuses me. (I also like the novel's eventual verdict that, eh, short-fat-damp Wally might be funny-looking, but a lot of people are, so there's no reason for him to lock himself away from society.) Overall, while this may be a little shaggy, it's also plenty of fun, with all the usual Westlake flair and some touches that reminded of Elmore Leonard.
Prison overcrowding means that an old cellmate of Dortmunder's, Tom Jimson, is back in the world, and while Tom might be ready for retirement, he's still a cold-eyed, cold-hearted son-of-a-bitch who doesn't see any reason for the deaths of hundreds of people to get in the way of him retrieving the seven hundred thousand dollars he buried shortly before his incarceration. In the intervening twenty years, the little town where Tom planted the cash was completely flooded out by the building of a dam, and Tom's money is now buried four feet under ground that's also buried fifty feet under the water of a (somewhat inefficiently) guarded reservoir. Tom's plan is simple, and he wants Dortmunder's help in exchange for a promised half of the take. He's going to dynamite the dam, and when the water gushes out of the reservoir and into the nearby towns, he'll just walk through the chaos, dig up the coffin that contains his money, and be on his way to Mexico. Once Dortmunder realizes what Tom's retrieval scheme means for the people of the surrounding area, he wants to bow out, but it's clear that Tom will just find someone else to help him. The world's not short on unscrupulous people willing to indirectly murder others for their own financial gain. If, however, Dortmunder can persuade Tom that there's a subtler, safer way to get the money, Tom will go along with it. He might not care about human life, but it'd be nice to avoid the manhunt.
So Dortmunder is plunged into trying to work out the logistics of an underwater heist. Unsurprisingly, complications ensue: for one thing, it's entirely possible the reservoir is trying to kill him (even the usually optimistic Kelp has to agree the place has it in for Dortmunder specifically), which means his fear of water and his desire to call it quits ratchet up with each unsuccessful attempt. This novel is longer than the usual Dortmunder entries and has to be loaded down with more technical details, thanks to the unusual milieu, but Westlake keeps it moving with high stakes and some memorable new characters. There's Wally, a shy and sweet computer geek who would like to think of all of this as a new kind of RPG; Doug Berry, a down-at-the-heels diving instructor mostly scraping by on his good looks; Myrtle Street, a librarian whose involvement with the plot turns her into a kind of amateur detective (one whose mother now keeps advising her to get laid); and a poor young guard at the reservoir who's slowly being driven mad by encountering Dormunder's crew in various bizarre ways. Kelp and Murch and Tiny are here, as usual, and May and Murch's Mom play a pretty crucial--and clever and hilarious--role.
This maybe runs a tad too long, and the trail of destruction Tom has left behind him is sometimes so bleak that it throws off the overall tone. Wally's computer is basically magic--though the running gag of it continuously using his game data in his real-life models, leading to the suggestion that they use spaceships from Zog to retrieve the treasure from the reservoir, amuses me. (I also like the novel's eventual verdict that, eh, short-fat-damp Wally might be funny-looking, but a lot of people are, so there's no reason for him to lock himself away from society.) Overall, while this may be a little shaggy, it's also plenty of fun, with all the usual Westlake flair and some touches that reminded of Elmore Leonard.
March 7, 2018
2017 was certainly the year of Westlake for me. Now 2018 may be the same. I finished this and I'm looking for the next inn the series.
June 28, 2010
This is probably my all-time favorite Donald E. Westlake book. So cleverly done, such great humor. How sad that he's no longer with us!
June 1, 2010
This was my introduction to Donald Westlake and there are things I really like. He is funny and plays with language. John Archibald Dortmunder is an anti-hero, a small time criminal who literally struggles to keep his head above water in this tale. His old cellmate, Tom Jimson, shows up unannounced at Dortmunder's home with a proposal for a caper that John just can't stomach. Many years ago, Tom heisted $700,000 that he stashed behind the library in a small town in upstate New York. He did some time, lots of time and the state of New York put in a reservoir that put Tom's money under 50 feet of water. Tom is looking for help to blow up the dam so he can get his money, retire and live quietly. John and his wife are horrified at the thought of the many people who would be drowned by the dam breaking, but Tom cares not a bit. John and his big, not totally pure heart take on the job of getting the money by some less harmful means. Tom has to get money out of some of his other stashes to fund the deal, other expertise has to be called upon, and the caper is off. My favorite line is "Real life. The greatest interactive fiction of them all."
The story is a bit convoluted and clumsy at times, but I will watch for more by this author.
The story is a bit convoluted and clumsy at times, but I will watch for more by this author.
April 13, 2009
For some reason, it is becoming incredibly hard to find Dortmunder novels in this City. To satisfy my Dortmunder jones, I was forced to borrow this volume, which I had read many years ago, from work. No matter: with Westlake's intricate plotting, and the gang's brilliant malaproprisms and general maladroitness, it was as fresh to me as if I had never read it before. I had even forgotten that herein it is revealed that Murch's Mom, um, rejoices (?) in the name of Gladys.
While reading this book, I was suffering through the first week of my Fantasy Baseball League schedule; if ever there was appropriate reading material for managing a Fantasy Baseball team, this is it. In fact, John Dortmunder would make an excellent Patron Saint of Fantasy Baseball; however carefully one plans and analyzes one's line-up, there is always that unexpected turn of events which turns all those well wrought schemes to shit.
While reading this book, I was suffering through the first week of my Fantasy Baseball League schedule; if ever there was appropriate reading material for managing a Fantasy Baseball team, this is it. In fact, John Dortmunder would make an excellent Patron Saint of Fantasy Baseball; however carefully one plans and analyzes one's line-up, there is always that unexpected turn of events which turns all those well wrought schemes to shit.
September 26, 2013
In which Dortmunder must figure out how to retrieve money buried at the bottom of a lake. My pet peeve about the Dortmunder series has been that the lighter tone of these books (compared to, say, oh, I don't know, the Parker novels?) tempts Westlake sometimes to take the easy, sophomoric route (e.g., fart jokes). This time out, plot and execution are strong (the first major underwater scene, in particular, is brilliantly claustrophobic), and the proceedings stay mature . . . but Westlake cannot resist a certain silliness that sometimes mars the cumulative gravitas of the Dortmunder series. Exhibit A: Dortmunder at Mt. Rushmore, which is a deeply regrettable self-indulgence.
March 17, 2016
Très bonne découverte ! Les personnages sont attachants et drôles malgré eux ! J'ai suivi leurs aventures avec beaucoup d'intérêt.
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January 3, 2024Delightful as always. Westlake always gets right to the inciting incident and then plunges you into the messy fun. The language is so sharp and funny. I liked that this book has more richness in the female characters in the gang. But I did feel it was long, especially since the later iterations of the crime were not fundamentally different from the first attempts. It's entertaining to see them try to steal something seven times if they try differently each time. But when they keep drawing on the same well, it becomes a bit tiresome.
October 22, 2023
Sometimes bigger isn't better. This was, by far, the longest Dortmunder novel thus far. And it was too long. It felt padded and just too far too long to get to where it needed to go. There were too many "side-quests." And it also just wasn't as funny as I want my Dortmunder novels to be.
Dortmunder comes home to his apartment to find an old cellmate there. Tom Jimson has been released on a life sentence due to over-crowding and his age. He wants Dortmunder to help him recover the proceeds of an armored car job that he'd done before he was sentenced to prison. The money, $700,000, was buried in a town that has since been covered by the water from a reservoir. Dortmunder isn't really interested, except that Jimson's plan is to dynamite the dam to clear the water an allow him to get the money, thereby killing thousands of people downstream. Dortmunder can't live with that so he tries to find another way...and ultimately Andy Kelp, Stan Murch, Tiny Blucher and Murch's Mom (we actually find out her first name) become involved.
And there are clearly the makings of a very good caper here. But it's just soooo long. And it's very very dark for a Dortmunder novel. And there are parts of it that just haven't aged well. There's a trollish-looking computer geek who has a computer that is pretty much magic. It's clear that Westlake really didn't know much about computers or AI, because this machine is doing stuff that it shouldn't be able to do 33 years later.
Ultimately it's readable. But it's very very disappointing.
Dortmunder comes home to his apartment to find an old cellmate there. Tom Jimson has been released on a life sentence due to over-crowding and his age. He wants Dortmunder to help him recover the proceeds of an armored car job that he'd done before he was sentenced to prison. The money, $700,000, was buried in a town that has since been covered by the water from a reservoir. Dortmunder isn't really interested, except that Jimson's plan is to dynamite the dam to clear the water an allow him to get the money, thereby killing thousands of people downstream. Dortmunder can't live with that so he tries to find another way...and ultimately Andy Kelp, Stan Murch, Tiny Blucher and Murch's Mom (we actually find out her first name) become involved.
And there are clearly the makings of a very good caper here. But it's just soooo long. And it's very very dark for a Dortmunder novel. And there are parts of it that just haven't aged well. There's a trollish-looking computer geek who has a computer that is pretty much magic. It's clear that Westlake really didn't know much about computers or AI, because this machine is doing stuff that it shouldn't be able to do 33 years later.
Ultimately it's readable. But it's very very disappointing.
April 25, 2022
I thought I had read all of Donald E. Westlake's novels about hapless heist planner John Dortmunder, but apparently I skipped this one. Fortunately it showed up for sale on Kindle, so I took it for a spin, didn't recognize the storyline and signed up to read it. I am glad I did.
The set-up: Dortmunder's onetime cellmate, the ruthless Tom Jimson, shows up at his door looking for help retrieving a casket full of cash from a long-ago armored car robbery. There are only two catches: 1) The money is now at the bottom of 50 feet of water, because New York City has built a reservoir on top of it, and 2) Jimson has a tendency to knock off every single person who helps him as soon as the cash is in hand.
Dortmunder takes on the job, mostly because Jimson's other option is to blow up the dam and flood a nearby town, killing everyone. Rather than enable a mass murder, Dortmunder agrees to recruit his usual gang to help him get to the bottom of the reservoir WITHOUT killing anyone -- or letting Jimson knock off all his accomplices, meaning Dortmunder and crew.
Thus we once again reunite with the delightfully quirky gang of Kelp, Murch and Tiny, plus new additions Walter the computer nerd and Doug the diver. Along the way, we discover that Tom's got a daughter he didn't know about, and who lives in the town he'd like to drown, and that Murch's mom is named Gladys (she hates the name). Also, Dortmunder's girlfriend May takes a much more active role in things this time, which adds to the fun. All in all, I laughed out loud several times, and chuckled plenty of times in between, although this wasn't nearly as funny as the original two Dortmunder books, "The Hot Rock" and "Bank Shot," or the last one, "Get Real."
Westlake expertly weaves together multiple plots and multiple heists as Dortmunder's gang tries over and over to retrieve the cash, failing each time because of some unforeseen complication. Each time, Tom cackles like the evil 70-year-old psychopath he is, and mentions dynamite, thus convincing Dortmunder to give it one more try -- until he quits, convinced the reservoir is out to kill him, but gets prodded back into action again anyway.
I took a point off because one of the minor characters, a reservoir employee named Billy, is depicted developing serious mental problems because of the robbers, which was probably pretty funny in 1990 when the book was written, but now seems more than a little sad.
The set-up: Dortmunder's onetime cellmate, the ruthless Tom Jimson, shows up at his door looking for help retrieving a casket full of cash from a long-ago armored car robbery. There are only two catches: 1) The money is now at the bottom of 50 feet of water, because New York City has built a reservoir on top of it, and 2) Jimson has a tendency to knock off every single person who helps him as soon as the cash is in hand.
Dortmunder takes on the job, mostly because Jimson's other option is to blow up the dam and flood a nearby town, killing everyone. Rather than enable a mass murder, Dortmunder agrees to recruit his usual gang to help him get to the bottom of the reservoir WITHOUT killing anyone -- or letting Jimson knock off all his accomplices, meaning Dortmunder and crew.
Thus we once again reunite with the delightfully quirky gang of Kelp, Murch and Tiny, plus new additions Walter the computer nerd and Doug the diver. Along the way, we discover that Tom's got a daughter he didn't know about, and who lives in the town he'd like to drown, and that Murch's mom is named Gladys (she hates the name). Also, Dortmunder's girlfriend May takes a much more active role in things this time, which adds to the fun. All in all, I laughed out loud several times, and chuckled plenty of times in between, although this wasn't nearly as funny as the original two Dortmunder books, "The Hot Rock" and "Bank Shot," or the last one, "Get Real."
Westlake expertly weaves together multiple plots and multiple heists as Dortmunder's gang tries over and over to retrieve the cash, failing each time because of some unforeseen complication. Each time, Tom cackles like the evil 70-year-old psychopath he is, and mentions dynamite, thus convincing Dortmunder to give it one more try -- until he quits, convinced the reservoir is out to kill him, but gets prodded back into action again anyway.
I took a point off because one of the minor characters, a reservoir employee named Billy, is depicted developing serious mental problems because of the robbers, which was probably pretty funny in 1990 when the book was written, but now seems more than a little sad.
October 31, 2014
Truly great Dortmunder caper where he is invited to help an old cellmate who happens to be a terrifying sociopath recover stolen money from the bottom of a reservoir. It's not really Dortmunder's thing, but seeing as if he doesn't the old cell-mate intends to resort to dynamite and flood a valley full of unsuspecting citizens, he feels obliged to make the effort. There follows a series of attempts to get down to the money and to get the money up. None of them go smoothly. Complications accrue and increase, as does the cast of characters involved, with lots of old familiars and a few new faces, such as Wally the round moist computer guy and Doug the diver, and with each disaster Dortmunder becomes more and more reluctant and has to be persuaded back to the job with extreme measures lest Tom the cellmate decide to go ahead with the whole dynamite thing.
Daft as a brush but full of a kind of remorselessly hilarious logic, Drowned Hopes is pure wet brilliance. It's even got that line about no dogs in a reservoir which set at least one friend of mine wondering about a certain film title.
Daft as a brush but full of a kind of remorselessly hilarious logic, Drowned Hopes is pure wet brilliance. It's even got that line about no dogs in a reservoir which set at least one friend of mine wondering about a certain film title.
March 17, 2009
This may be my favorite of the Dortmunder novels (that I've read). Which is funny because while they all share the pessimistic worldview of Dortmunder himself, this was the first one where Westlake's side narratives painted a truly dark and misanthropic, if humorously done, picture of the world. Maybe because the antagonist of this book is so much darker then the ones in the other D. novels I've read? So, anyway, that tonal switch interested me.
I also favor this book because it had a three paragraph sequence that actually made me laugh out loud for several minutes thanks to the sentence that culminates it (for anyone who's read the book or will read the book, it's the scene with the postman). I really admire things that prompt a visceral response, rather then you just smiling slightly to yourself while thinking "Oh, that's funny."
I also favor this book because it had a three paragraph sequence that actually made me laugh out loud for several minutes thanks to the sentence that culminates it (for anyone who's read the book or will read the book, it's the scene with the postman). I really admire things that prompt a visceral response, rather then you just smiling slightly to yourself while thinking "Oh, that's funny."
September 2, 2012
A guy gets out of prison, and he goes to get the loot where he buried it. Unfortunately, he's been gone quite awhile. A dam has been built and the water for a whole town is on top of it now. In order to get to it, he just may have to drown the whole town.
The protagonist is the guy he goes to see about it. Our protagonist, of course, is not a big-time hoodlum with a heart of flint. Westlake doesn't write that way. No, our guy is callous, certainly; selfish, no doubt. But he does not have anywhere CLOSE to the hard-heartedness required to drown a whole town. And so it devolves upon him to find a way to get the loot, but not kill the town.
Good luck with that.
Funny as hell, but of course, in a slightly dark way, like all of Westlake's comic capers.
The protagonist is the guy he goes to see about it. Our protagonist, of course, is not a big-time hoodlum with a heart of flint. Westlake doesn't write that way. No, our guy is callous, certainly; selfish, no doubt. But he does not have anywhere CLOSE to the hard-heartedness required to drown a whole town. And so it devolves upon him to find a way to get the loot, but not kill the town.
Good luck with that.
Funny as hell, but of course, in a slightly dark way, like all of Westlake's comic capers.
March 1, 2016
Cette histoire rocambolesque avec ses personnages hauts en couleur est pleine d'humour et de rebondissements. Pourtant je n'ai pas été super emballée, je n'ai pas été entraînée dans cette folle histoire mais j'ai quand même passé un bon moment, j'ai surtout eu un coup de cœur pour la façon dont tous les personnages entrent dans l'histoire et leur personnalité bien particulière.
April 13, 2013
This is only the second book I have read featuring Dortmunder and it certainly made me want to read more. At 550 pages it's a long story with more than a few twists and turns but with a satisfying ending. It's over the top but makes you smile even though there is some violence and people do die.
January 11, 2023
Compared to all the previous novels, this one is long, serious and a bit boring. Not bad, just a bit meh.
June 30, 2017
This has to be one of the most enjoyable novels that I've read in quite some time. I've read a few other crime novels by Westlake but this is the first Dortmunder story for me -- it won't be the last!
From wikipedia:
Donald Edwin Westlake (July 12, 1933 – December 31, 2008) was an American writer, with over a hundred novels and non-fiction books to his credit. He specialized in crime fiction, especially comic capers, with an occasional foray into science fiction and other genres. Westlake is perhaps best-remembered for creating two professional criminal characters who each starred in a long-running series: the relentless, hard-boiled Parker (published under the pen name Richard Stark), and John Dortmunder who featured in a more humorous series.
He was a three-time Edgar Award winner, and alongside Joe Gores and William L. DeAndrea was one of few writers to win Edgars in three different categories (1968, Best Novel, God Save the Mark; 1990, Best Short Story, "Too Many Crooks"; 1991, Best Motion Picture Screenplay, The Grifters). In 1993, the Mystery Writers of America named Westlake a Grand Master, the highest honor bestowed by the society.
Drowned Hopes is one of Westlake's very humorous and laid back novels. From the hardcover book flap: Arriving home at dawn after another failed burglary, Dortmunder is horrified to find his apartment occupied by an old cellmate everyone supposed (and hoped) had been in for life.
Tom Jimson needs Dortmunder's help. Nearly thirty years ago, before his last prison stretch, Tom pulled a big job up near Albany. A very big job. His partners ran into some "trouble," and Tom was left with the entire $700,000. The money was buried in a small, upstate valley town. And while Tom sat in jail, the state of New York turned the valley into a reservoir. The stash is now under three feet of dirt and fifty feet of water.
Being the nasty sort of fellow he is, Tom's plan is to blow up the dam, flood the surrounding countryside, and grab the cash.
With the fate of nine hundred small-town nobodies hanging in the balance, it falls to Dortmunder to formulate an alternate plan for retrieving the loot. Aided by Andy Kelp, Stan Murch, Tiny Bulcher, and eccentric computer genius Wally Knurr (whose initial suggestion is to burn off the water with a huge laser), Dortmunder takes the plunge. And fails.
This, of course, necessitates a second attempt...and another...and another. But as each successive plan fails, Tom's dynamite finger gets itchier...and itchier.
This story was long at over 400 pages but it was fun and kept your interest at a very high level. Dortmunder and his crew of hapless crooks are priceless and I will definitely be seeking out more in this series. High recommendation overall for this one!
From wikipedia:
Donald Edwin Westlake (July 12, 1933 – December 31, 2008) was an American writer, with over a hundred novels and non-fiction books to his credit. He specialized in crime fiction, especially comic capers, with an occasional foray into science fiction and other genres. Westlake is perhaps best-remembered for creating two professional criminal characters who each starred in a long-running series: the relentless, hard-boiled Parker (published under the pen name Richard Stark), and John Dortmunder who featured in a more humorous series.
He was a three-time Edgar Award winner, and alongside Joe Gores and William L. DeAndrea was one of few writers to win Edgars in three different categories (1968, Best Novel, God Save the Mark; 1990, Best Short Story, "Too Many Crooks"; 1991, Best Motion Picture Screenplay, The Grifters). In 1993, the Mystery Writers of America named Westlake a Grand Master, the highest honor bestowed by the society.
Drowned Hopes is one of Westlake's very humorous and laid back novels. From the hardcover book flap: Arriving home at dawn after another failed burglary, Dortmunder is horrified to find his apartment occupied by an old cellmate everyone supposed (and hoped) had been in for life.
Tom Jimson needs Dortmunder's help. Nearly thirty years ago, before his last prison stretch, Tom pulled a big job up near Albany. A very big job. His partners ran into some "trouble," and Tom was left with the entire $700,000. The money was buried in a small, upstate valley town. And while Tom sat in jail, the state of New York turned the valley into a reservoir. The stash is now under three feet of dirt and fifty feet of water.
Being the nasty sort of fellow he is, Tom's plan is to blow up the dam, flood the surrounding countryside, and grab the cash.
With the fate of nine hundred small-town nobodies hanging in the balance, it falls to Dortmunder to formulate an alternate plan for retrieving the loot. Aided by Andy Kelp, Stan Murch, Tiny Bulcher, and eccentric computer genius Wally Knurr (whose initial suggestion is to burn off the water with a huge laser), Dortmunder takes the plunge. And fails.
This, of course, necessitates a second attempt...and another...and another. But as each successive plan fails, Tom's dynamite finger gets itchier...and itchier.
This story was long at over 400 pages but it was fun and kept your interest at a very high level. Dortmunder and his crew of hapless crooks are priceless and I will definitely be seeking out more in this series. High recommendation overall for this one!
July 22, 2021
This was my first Dortmunder by Westlake. Recommended to me by good reader friend Bruce Binger. It was years ago - circa 1991 to 1995 - but it is extremely funny as I think back on it today. Dortmunder and his inept team of ne'r-do-wells attempt to recover a stash of previously ill-gotten loot now under the waters of an abandoned town immersed by the state approving a new dam and reservoir.
Highly recommend!
Highly recommend!
September 9, 2014
Worst in the series so far. The book is twice the length of some of the previous ones, and for no apparent reason — some of the shortest have had much more elaborate plots. This one merely plods along, with very little cleverness or humour in the main plot (rather than in the asides), and the dialogues between Wally and his computer are simply painful.
October 28, 2008
All the books in the Dortmunder series are wonderful, but this is probably the funniest. With his stuff, I read it, get to the last line and so know the story, and then I go right back to page l and read through again to enjoy all the subtle bits.
March 3, 2016
L'histoire est folle mais rigolote, le ton est parfait mais il y a quelques (pas mal) de longueurs tout au long du livre qui m'ont déplues. Je reste donc mitigée mais c'est plutôt positive car la fin est marrante !
January 12, 2008
This is the first Dortmunder I ever read, and it has grown on me with a second reading. One of my favorite Westlake novels.
March 8, 2009
If you've read enough of the Dortmunder novels and have a feel for the characters, it makes this book extra funny. It is one of my most laughed out loud during reading books ever!
April 23, 2009
Now this is good Dortmunder! It's been years since I read this one, but I remember it as delightfully funny. It has one of the best comic crime caper set-ups that I've read.
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