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A review by book_concierge
Bank Shot by Donald E. Westlake
4.0
Master criminal planner Dortmander is reduced to selling encyclopedias to the housewives living on Long Island when his friend Kelp tells him about a “sure thing.” Seems Kelp’s nephew Victor is a former FBI agent who has noticed a perfect opportunity – a local bank is undergoing major renovation and so operations have been temporarily moved to a mobile home in a nearby vacant lot. All they have to do is hitch the trailer to a truck and they can steal the entire bank!
Westlake created a wonderful character with Dortmander – a master planner of elaborate crimes who is cursed with a gang of not-quite-competent accomplices. If anything can go wrong with Dortmander’s perfect plan, it will. The only thing that seems to save Dortmander and his friends is that the police are equally (or more) inept than the crooks. I just find myself cheering for Dortmander’s crew, sharing their frustrations, shaking my head at their obvious mistakes, chuckling at their mishaps. This comic caper is the perfect antidote to a gray dreary day. I’ll be smiling for hours just thinking about it.
Westlake created a wonderful character with Dortmander – a master planner of elaborate crimes who is cursed with a gang of not-quite-competent accomplices. If anything can go wrong with Dortmander’s perfect plan, it will. The only thing that seems to save Dortmander and his friends is that the police are equally (or more) inept than the crooks. I just find myself cheering for Dortmander’s crew, sharing their frustrations, shaking my head at their obvious mistakes, chuckling at their mishaps. This comic caper is the perfect antidote to a gray dreary day. I’ll be smiling for hours just thinking about it.