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weirdtea's review against another edition
4.0
It’s an amusing caper story. I liked the bad-luck turns and cast of characters. It’s a great example of stakes and escalation. It had enough tension to keep the plot going and it was light enough to still be pandemic escape reading friendly.
alanfederman's review against another edition
This was my first Donald Westlake book and a great place to start. It was an Ocean's 11 type caper involving an emerald, a prison break and a few other surprises. The humor was welcome and I enjoyed the NYC setting. Dortmunder is a great character and can't wait to read more.
asweetdevouring's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this book immensely - much more than I thought I would. It is an utterly ridiculous, fun romp through caper after caper and I am definitely going to be reading the next book.
readerofbooks70's review against another edition
funny
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
nigellicus's review against another edition
5.0
John Dortmunder has to steal a rock six times. Or rather, the rock sets of a chain of six heists all geared towards securing said rock. There are complications, so many complications that it's easy to miss what a a miracle of clear, uncluttered efficient story-telling a book with six heists in it is, while at the same time being a minor comic masterpiece, most of it character-driven with its collection of lovable prosaic lowlives hatching schemes and executing complex plans that invariably go wrong, or don;t go wrong but still leave them empty-handed. Robert Redford played Dortmunder in the adaptation and it's such a weird piece of miscasting, but if you've only read this, the first in the series, before you've become truly familiar with the drab, downcast, put-upon little mastermind, then it isn't quite such a bad fit.
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