Bad News (Center Point Platinum Fiction (Large Print)) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Donald E. Westlake (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2001 | Series: Center Point Platinum Fiction (Large Print)

Master crook John Dortmunder is offered a grand to dig up a grave in a Queens cemetery and switch the bodies of two 70-years-dead Indians. Ex-Vegas showgirl Little Feather Redcorn, one of the Indian's great-granddaughter, plans to pose as the last of the Pottaknobbee tribe, one-third owners of the largest casino in the east. When the scam goes into play, it's Dortmunder and his band who must make sure things run smoothly.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Westlake fans will welcome the return, after a five-year hiatus, of luckless burglar John Dortmunder and his gang of lowlifes from the back room of the O.J. Bar and Grill. In this, perhaps the best Dortmunder novel so far, Andy Kelp, Tiny Bulcher and the Murches (Stan and Mom) join Dortmunder in horning in on another crew's scam cheating two Native American tribes out of one-third of the take from a lucrative Indian casino in upstate New York. Fitzroy Guilderpost, mastermind of the con (and a memorable Westlake creation one hopes to see again), has enlisted Little Feather Redcorn, a Las Vegas card dealer and showgirl, to pose as the last living member of an extinct tribe with a claim to the casino. Unknown to the schemers, the casino managers have been cooking their books and will go to any length to avoid sharing the wealth. As the foes switch dead Indians from grave to grave, seeking to prove or deny Little Feather's tribal membership, Dortmunder plots an impossible and hilarious robbery using a blizzard as an accessory, and comes up with the usual mixed results. Now that Westlake has resumed both the Dortmunder series and (writing as Richard Stark) the Parker novels, his fans again have a choice of the amusing, relatively benign capers of the Dortmunder clan and the cold crimes of the felonious Parker and his endless trail of bloody bodies and blown safes. This latest carries on the Dortmunder tradition and raises it to new standards. (Apr. 11) Forecast: With the June 1 release of the film of What's the Worst That Could Happen?, which features Danny DeVito as the villain, MWA Grand Master and three-time Edgar winner Westlake seems headed for the kind of success his hapless hero can only dream of.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Dortmunder, the man on whom the sun shines only when darkness is what's needed, is back in his tenth comic caper (following 1996's What's the Worst That Could Happen?), and that's good news to his many fans. The original scam involves passing off ex-Vegas showgirl Little Feather Redcorn as the sole survivor of the Pottaknobbee tribe. It is extinct, but, if there were any living representative, said representative would be eligible to share one-third of the earnings of a successful Native American casino operation, and so Little Feather wants in on the action. Once Dortmunder blunders into the arrangement, though, a flurry of dug-up graves and changed headstones ensues (all with the aim of validating Little Feather's legitimacy). Beneath the thin veneer of timeliness offered by references to Native American casinos and DNA testing beats a timeless plot that combines the best elements of the Three Stooges and a Damon Runyon story. That should be good enough for anybody looking for a finely oiled and remarkably sex- and violence-free romp through the graveyards of upper New York State. For all public libraries. Bob Lunn, Kansas City P.L., MO
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 344 pages
• Publisher: Center Point Large Print; First Edition edition (August 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585471232
• ISBN-13: 978-1585471232
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,248,103 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Westlake's Brilliant (Criminal) Career, July 7, 2001

By 

Author Bill Peschel "Writers Gone Wild" (Hershey, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bad News (Dortmunder Novels) (Hardcover)

What's bad news for John Dortmunder, the talented but unlucky thief, is good news for mystery readers. It's been five years since we've heard from Donald Westlake's creation, but while he's been away, Dortmunder hasn't lost any of his zip, whether evading police inside a Sam's Club-like megastore to planning the burglary of a mansion guarded with the latest high-tech security measures.

It wouldn't be giving too much of the book away to say that "Bad News" could also be subtitled, "Or, the Last of the Pottaknobbees." That is the scam Dortmunder stumbles into while switching bodies during a contract job in a Long Island cemetery. Soon, he and his confederates -- the massive Tiny and the smooth car thief Andy Kelp -- are freezing in the woods of upstate New York, helping to pass off a Las Vegas casino dealer as the last of her Native American tribe, and therefore the one-third owner of a reservation casino worth millions. It's not an easy task, dodging stake-outs, the police, the casino's owners and the trio's reluctant partners, but "Bad News" hums along as Dortmunder and crew maneuver -- on eggshells sometimes -- among a gallery of rogues, imbeciles and everyday misfits.

Westlake has been around long enough that it may be difficult to realize just how truly inventive and consistent he is. He's delivered the goods in works ranging from comic novels ("Baby Would I Lie?") to his hard-edged Richard Stark series, to caper novels that tread a fine line in between the extremes ("Kahawa," set in Idi Amin's Uganda), and the corporate satire, "The Axe." "Bad News" is another welcome addition to Westlake's collection of must-read and must-re-read books.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE GOOD NEWS IS "BAD NEWS", May 11, 2001

By 

Robert Edler "Master Of Mystery" (Saint Louis, Missouri USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bad News (Dortmunder Novels) (Hardcover)

Finally, after five long years, Dortmunder is back along with his ever-loving May and his sidekicks-in-crime Andy Kelp, Tiny Boucher, Stan Murch and Murch's Mom. "So, who's Dortmunder," you ask? Well, where have you been for the past quarter of a century? He's just main character in the most hilarious crime caper series ever created. He's...well, actually, the author tells you everything you need to know about the character in the opening line of this book. "John Dortmunder was a man on whom the sun shown only when he needed darkness."

Things always seem to go wrong whenever Dortmunder plans the perfect crime. And rest assured, as you might expect author, Donald E. Westlake, has invented new and side-splitting ways for things to go wrong during this visitation. John Dortmunder is your basic professional (or unprofessional) breaking and entering artist, a.k.a. burglar. So how does your basic burglar end up in the middle of con caper digging up the remains of a long dead Native American, a.k.a. Indian?

Well, it's probably because he didn't get the thousand bucks for the cameras he was stealing from the Speedshop before he got locked in the optical department. And that all takes place in the first few pages of this new page-turner.

Dortmunder fans will really enjoy this new adventure. And yes, there is the mandatory visit to O. J. Bar and Grill on Amsterdam Avenue where the discussion of "the regulars" centers on the names of Santa's reindeer and the seven dwarfs. If you're not a fan, get this book and you soon will be!

As for author, Donald E. Westlake (a.k.a. John B. Allan, Tucker Coe, Curt Clark, Timothy J. Culver, Morgan J. Cunningham, Samuel Holt and Richard Stark), I've been a fan for almost as long as he's been writing - which is almost, but not quite as long I I've been reading. The bad news about Bad News is I read it too fast and now I'll have to wait five years for the next Dortmunder!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bad News is good news, April 15, 2001

By 

Bruce Trinque (Amston, CT United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bad News (Dortmunder Novels) (Hardcover)

Death, taxes, and a "Dortmunder" novel from Donald Westlake -- they're all something you can count on (and the "Dortmunder" novel is a lot more fun than the other two).

Another thing guaranteed is that nothing ever goes right for John Dortmunder, a simple, honest (well, sort of), hard-working thief who never gets an even break. As with all of Donald Westlake's novels about Dortmunder and his cohorts, just hang on because it is going to be a strange and funny ride. In previous books in the series, we have seen Dortmunder stealing jewels and paintings and banks (yes, "stealing" a bank, not robbing it), but never before has he had to steal a dead Indian. Of course, it is all in a good cause -- money. And rest assured, all will come out wrong in the end. Dead Indians, live Indians, Indian casinos, double-crossing con artists, small town lawyers, big city lawyers, coffins playing musical chairs ... No wonder John Dortmunder always looks so downcast.

This one is money in the bank, folks. "Bad News" is good news for readers.