Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyed it a lot!!!
Review: I've been a fan since "What's the Worst That Could Happen?" and didn't think that the "good crooks" could get any better than Dortmunder, but I fell in love with Meehan. Clever, funny, and smart. I enjoyed this one from beginning to end. There were times when the humor was so subtle that I almost missed the joke. I like books that make me have to pay attention. This is another Westlake winner. I highly recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: Quick and witty
Review: See storyline above.If you're looking for a somewhat short novel with quick and witty dialogue in a humorous crime caper genre, this will satisfy. The character of Francis Meehan is very likeable as is the not so quick witted Pat Jeffords (the Fed that Meehan is doing the job for). An easy to read and easy to follow story that is not real involved. Recommended
Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: So glad to see more of the witty, stylish Westlake back. The grim stuff (The Axe) is flooding the market; there is no one better at writing the witty mystery than Westlake. This engaging, fast-paced tale hearkens back to my favorite Dortmunder, What's the Worst That Can Happen?
Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: So glad to see more of the witty, stylish Westlake back. The grim stuff (The Axe) is flooding the market; there is no one better at writing the witty mystery than Westlake. This engaging, fast-paced tale hearkens back to my favorite Dortmunder, What's the Worst That Can Happen?
Rating:
Summary: Master of the Caper
Review: Somewhere between Parker and Dortmunder is Francis Meehan, a streetwise thief facing a long term in federal prison. Not quite as violent as Parker, not quite as comic as Dortmunder, Meehan is recruited by some true low-lifes: politicians. Having learned from the mistakes of Watergate, the President's men have hired a competent crook who they can tantalize into work with the possibility of freedom. Both sides are in over their heads: Meehan is used to a more honest breed of crook, and the politicos have little idea what the world of crime is like. Like other Westlake caper novels, half the fun is in the preparation of the eventual crime. Most of this book deals with the preparations, with the actual crime not taking place till late in the book. Westlake is a master in this field, and he doesn't disappoint here. If the book rates four stars, it is only because, good as it is, it is not quite the level of some of his other works. Nonetheless, neither Westlake veterans nor first-time readers should be anything less than pleasantly entertained.
Rating:
Summary: Master of the Caper
Review: Somewhere between Parker and Dortmunder is Francis Meehan, a streetwise thief facing a long term in federal prison. Not quite as violent as Parker, not quite as comic as Dortmunder, Meehan is recruited by some true low-lifes: politicians. Having learned from the mistakes of Watergate, the President's men have hired a competent crook who they can tantalize into work with the possibility of freedom. Both sides are in over their heads: Meehan is used to a more honest breed of crook, and the politicos have little idea what the world of crime is like. Like other Westlake caper novels, half the fun is in the preparation of the eventual crime. Most of this book deals with the preparations, with the actual crime not taking place till late in the book. Westlake is a master in this field, and he doesn't disappoint here. If the book rates four stars, it is only because, good as it is, it is not quite the level of some of his other works. Nonetheless, neither Westlake veterans nor first-time readers should be anything less than pleasantly entertained.
Rating:
Summary: Shades of Watergate
Review: This is vintage Westlake and a bitter satire of government.
All of Westlake's characters have runs of bad luck and Franci (not Frank, thank you) Meehan is no exception. Meehan is a non-violent career criminal who has just been incarcerated at the Manhattan Correctional Center awaiting sentencing on a federal charge (how was he to know the truck he was hijacking was carrying registered mail in addition to computer parts). He is approached by Jeffords, obviously a lawyer, who makes him a strange proposition. Jeffords whisks Meehan off to the Outer Banks in a corporate jet. The U.S. president's campaign committee needs a burglary performed, and they've learned a lesson from Watergate: If you need a successful burglary, hire a professional burglar. Amateurs, they are, they pick one in prison. They want Meehan to steal a very incriminating videotape from a supporter of the opposing party. All charges will be dropped if he can pull it off.
Meehan is no fool, however, hates to work with amateurs - that would violate one of the "ten-thousand rules" - and he works his own little sting in the midst of the large one. He enlists his own crew to lift the video from the estate of a wacko millionaire all the while trying to protect himself from incompetent but malicious forces (rent-a-thugs from the rival campaign and some errant Middle-Eastern types) who want the video for their own purposes.
In this humorous crime caper, Westlake is at his cynical and impudent best.
Rating:
Summary: Shades of Watergate
Review: This is vintage Westlake and a bitter satire of government.
All of Westlake's characters have runs of bad luck and Franci (not Frank, thank you) Meehan is no exception. Meehan is a non-violent career criminal who has just been incarcerated at the Manhattan Correctional Center awaiting sentencing on a federal charge (how was he to know the truck he was hijacking was carrying registered mail in addition to computer parts). He is approached by Jeffords, obviously a lawyer, who makes him a strange proposition. Jeffords whisks Meehan off to the Outer Banks in a corporate jet. The U.S. president's campaign committee needs a burglary performed, and they've learned a lesson from Watergate: If you need a successful burglary, hire a professional burglar. Amateurs, they are, they pick one in prison. They want Meehan to steal a very incriminating videotape from a supporter of the opposing party. All charges will be dropped if he can pull it off.
Meehan is no fool, however, hates to work with amateurs - that would violate one of the "ten-thousand rules" - and he works his own little sting in the midst of the large one. He enlists his own crew to lift the video from the estate of a wacko millionaire all the while trying to protect himself from incompetent but malicious forces (rent-a-thugs from the rival campaign and some errant Middle-Eastern types) who want the video for their own purposes.
In this humorous crime caper, Westlake is at his cynical and impudent best.
Rating:
Summary: Shades of Watergate
Review: This is vintage Westlake and a bitter satire of government.
All of Westlake's characters have runs of bad luck and Franci (not Frank, thank you) Meehan is no exception. Meehan is a non-violent career criminal who has just been incarcerated at the Manhattan Correctional Center awaiting sentencing on a federal charge (how was he to know the truck he was hijacking was carrying registered mail in addition to computer parts). He is approached by Jeffords, obviously a lawyer, who makes him a strange proposition. Jeffords whisks Meehan off to the Outer Banks in a corporate jet. The U.S. president's campaign committee needs a burglary performed, and they've learned a lesson from Watergate: If you need a successful burglary, hire a professional burglar. Amateurs, they are, they pick one in prison. They want Meehan to steal a very incriminating videotape from a supporter of the opposing party. All charges will be dropped if he can pull it off.
Meehan is no fool, however, hates to work with amateurs - that would violate one of the "ten-thousand rules" - and he works his own little sting in the midst of the large one. He enlists his own crew to lift the video from the estate of a wacko millionaire all the while trying to protect himself from incompetent but malicious forces (rent-a-thugs from the rival campaign and some errant Middle-Eastern types) who want the video for their own purposes.
In this humorous crime caper, Westlake is at his cynical and impudent best.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't Keep a Lid on the Secret that is Westlake
Review: This mightn't be Westlake's greatest literacy achievement but it is still pretty good. Meehan a career criminal who has spent much time behind bars hijacked a federal truck mistaking it for something else. He now faces a lifetime in a federal facility and does not look forward to it. One day a man comes to visit him telling him he is his new lawyer. Meehan sees straight through him but this does not matter he is still recruited. This man and others want Meehan to commit a crime to save the president of the USA from a scandal and if he does he will be a free man. This is an interesting book although not Westlake's best. That title would by far go to his masterpiece the Ax. Corkscrew is another good novel as well. This one is worth reading as well but it is not in the masterpiece league of the Ax.
| 
