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killstorm's review against another edition
4.0
The first of Westlake's Dortmunder series is a fine quick read about a caper and its complications. Plenty of humor along the way.
bettermetal's review against another edition
4.0
Hilarious heist novel full of plot twists. A cast of charming characters are after an emerald that keeps getting away from them. Clever, funny, light and entertaining. The plot moves fast and doesn’t drag on. Each character was brought into the novel with little to no backstory — I liked that, quick, doesn’t waste time, keeps a bit of mystery — but still they are very different and distinct from each others. The author lets their behavior describe them. I loved the dry humor. The novel doesn’t just consist of jokes but the situations themselves are funny, some dialogue made me laugh out loud. I will definitely pick up more of Dortmunder
dantastic's review against another edition
5.0
Fresh out of the clink, John Dortmunder gets draw into stealing an emerald belonging to an African nation. Only circumstances work against Dortmunder and his crew and turn the one heist into five. Will Dortmunder and crew ever get their hands on the emerald?
Wow. I'd heard the Dortmunder books were good but I had no idea. Dortmunder and crew are a well-developed group, especially Murch, the getaway man who listens to the record of the Indy 500 in his spare time. Westlake creates a series of hilarious but believable situations to stick poor Dortmunder in.
While Westlake wrote the Parker books under his Richard Stark pseudonym, the writing couldn't be more different. His style in The Hot Rock reminds me of Christopher Moore and similar authors.
I'd recommend this to crime fiction fans with a sense of humor and also Christopher Moore fans.
Wow. I'd heard the Dortmunder books were good but I had no idea. Dortmunder and crew are a well-developed group, especially Murch, the getaway man who listens to the record of the Indy 500 in his spare time. Westlake creates a series of hilarious but believable situations to stick poor Dortmunder in.
While Westlake wrote the Parker books under his Richard Stark pseudonym, the writing couldn't be more different. His style in The Hot Rock reminds me of Christopher Moore and similar authors.
I'd recommend this to crime fiction fans with a sense of humor and also Christopher Moore fans.
blairconrad's review against another edition
3.0
In essence, a fairly simplistic heist story (with a few bumps along the way and a small twist). The characters aren't particularly well-developed, but each has an interesting quirk that served to help me distinguish them. I appreciate that.
The text of the book is clearly dated, with the dialogue showing this like nothing else, but it has character. Westlake delivers a wacky story that elicited a chuckle from me more than once. Not stellar, but it shows promise, and I wouldn't pass up later books in the series if I ran across them.
The text of the book is clearly dated, with the dialogue showing this like nothing else, but it has character. Westlake delivers a wacky story that elicited a chuckle from me more than once. Not stellar, but it shows promise, and I wouldn't pass up later books in the series if I ran across them.
remlezar's review against another edition
4.0
Drug maybe a little in the middle, but overall this was a great little book. Westlake (aka Richard Stark) never fails to fill that void of wanting to read something easy and fun, but still genre savvy and clever. Dortmunder is a much different character than Parker, the star of the novels I usually read by Westlake. Dortmunder has Parker's smarts, but Gil Gunderson's (from The Simpsons) luck, and much more humanity than Parker. It was cool to see Westlake write a different kind of character. All of the secondary characters in The Hot Rock are great, too.
Westlake is always easy to recommend for anyone who likes a good caper novel.
Westlake is always easy to recommend for anyone who likes a good caper novel.
blueberry's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.5
bryce_is_a_librarian's review against another edition
5.0
Like watching a man fall down six flights of stairs, funny, tragic and vaguely hypnotic.
cranc's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
kurtwombat's review against another edition
5.0
My first Westbrook and the first book in his Dortmunder Series is an imaginative and fun read. The idea came first of an emerald that won’t stay stolen, then Dortmunder was created to live it out. Love heist scenarios pulled off by smart people and the structure of this allows for several well-crafted heists. The central question of why would they keep trying after repeated bouts of bad luck was handled with deft character work and humor. If this were ignored or glossed over with a “because it’s there” trope, I would have become irritated and either quit reading or finished the book with a chip on my shoulder and a grudge. Truly funny, the humor does not detract from the action. Actually adds to the momentum of the goings on which builds heist upon heist until a nice twisty conclusion. The gimmick of having to steal the same emerald again and again never feels like a gimmick. Each time their situation falls apart, it’s funny and a surprise. Liked this enough to leap right into another Westlake GOD SAVE THE MARK—a stand alone non-series entry that had it’s own gimmick I felt was a little forced. Still good but it made me appreciate THE HOT ROCK even more.
mg_libros's review against another edition
5.0
67/2022 He devorado este libro.
La historia del robo de un diamante que no termina de producirse, la banda lo hace todo bien, siguen el plan a la perfección pero siempre pasa algo y acaban una y otra vez sin el diamante del título.
Es divertidísimo. Según leía pensaba "qué gran película sería" y mira, resulta que la película existe, es del 72 y el protagonista es Robert Redford. No está en ninguna plataforma, porque la vida nunca es así de fácil.
Es el primero de una saga, así que voy a seguir.
La historia del robo de un diamante que no termina de producirse, la banda lo hace todo bien, siguen el plan a la perfección pero siempre pasa algo y acaban una y otra vez sin el diamante del título.
Es divertidísimo. Según leía pensaba "qué gran película sería" y mira, resulta que la película existe, es del 72 y el protagonista es Robert Redford. No está en ninguna plataforma, porque la vida nunca es así de fácil.
Es el primero de una saga, así que voy a seguir.