Customer Reviews

Drowned Hopes

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Having read all of the previous Dortmunder novels, I found it increasingly difficult to think that Westlake would or could top himself with the genius of this series. Again, he proved me wrong with "Drowned Hopes." No one can turn a phrase, develop a character or dream a scenario the way Westlake does.

"Drowned Hopes" brings back many of the great characters from the previous Dortmunder novels and as always, throws in a few new ones to round out the brilliant cast. The story is a wild adventure unrivaled in the previous books of the series, taking our hero from NYC, to Oklahoma and even up Abe Lincoln's nose on Mt. Rushmore.

I can recommned this book in print and on audio-cassette (with a wonderful performance by Michael Kramer - reader of all the Dortmunder books on tape) where the characters come to life. This one leaves you hungry for more.

Tom Jimson is a nasty piece of work. He's also an ex-cellmate of John Dortmunder's who has just been released from prison and unexpectedly shows up on Dortmunder's doorstep to ask him to help to recover some of the loot he had stashed away before going away. He'd buried it in a coffin, behind a library, in a small town almost 30 years ago. The problem is, the town and the surrounding valley have since been flooded under 50 feet of water to form a reservoir.

As an ideas man, Dortmunder's specialty is to come up with brilliant plans but this time he's faced with a perplexing conundrum. How do you sneak into a reservoir that is off-limits to the public, find a box buried in ground that is also underwater? Well, one thing's for sure, if John Dortmunder and his gang is involved, it won't go without a hitch and the results will be hilarious.

The crew backing up from previous books are the ever reliable Andy Kelp, Tiny Bulcher who's starting to seem almost human now, driving specialist Stan Murch, Murch's Mom and Dortmunder's better half, May. May seems to be playing a more important role in each successive outing and is a fine foil for Dortmunder doom and gloom attitude.

This is an unusual Dortmunder book because it is at least twice as long as any of the previous entries in the series. This serves to give Dortmunder room to come up with even more brilliant plans. It also allows us to get to know the regular cast in much greater depth. For example, we finally find out what Murch's Mom's first name is in this book. Westlake also manages to introduce us to a few more offbeat characters that complement the regular mob nicely.

As usual, Donald Westlake has given us a riotous caper that is simply a joy to read. In order to fully understand each character's idiosyncrasies I would recommend reading the earlier books first, an enjoyable task in itself, although it's not absolutely necessary. There are numerous references to earlier capers, but these only serve to give the reader the feeling of being an insider to the gang, the references don't spoil any plots.

It's a very good story about a thief named Dortmunder Who's old cellmate come's to him for help digging up a 23 year loot from a heist. Dortmunder get's a group together and tries to get the money again and again but they can't make it. The old cellmate wants to blow up the dam so dortmunder has to get the money soon! I forgot to mention that the water's now under a newly built Resevoir!

Donald Westlake is a master of the absurd and unpredictable. His caper novels pack more hilarious twists and turns with every page. Expect to laugh out loud several times during this book!

With such a distinguished resume I was really looking forward to Donald Westlake's book. He is a distinguish author with more than 100 books to his name and this is his first book I've ever read. My copy is a massive 553 pages but I thought the book was not well written, slow, disjointed and difficult to read and follow.

Spoiler here:
For example, the part where they got a stash of dough from the church's pulpit, a whole chapter was devoted to the wedding that was taking place in the church at that time. And it was not until I got to the next chapter that I knew what was going on. When you first read the chapter, you did not know who the characters were and how they were connected to the story. The whole book is kind of like this. It really was a chapter that did not need to be there.

Maybe about 20-30% of the book was filler like that which could have been cut out and made the book faster reading, definitely easier to follow. For these reasons, unfortunately, I cannot give this book more than 2 stars.

This is THE BEST of the Dortmunder series (and that is saying a lot). Dortmunder's old Cronie, Tom, gets out of jail and conscripts John to help dig up a buried treasure. Hilarious. Tom calling Dortmunder "Al" all the time is worth the read if there was nothing else in it. Read this book now!

I was poking around in a store that was...well, not Amazon...and found a shelf of books recommended by the staff. This was on the shelf, and glory be, it was marked down crazy-cheap! I took a chance on a new (to me) writer, and I haven't stopped laughing since. This guy reads like Carl Hiassen, but the humor is not quite as dark.

I won't go over a synopsis of the plot, because other reviewers have already done it so well. I just want to say that Westlake does a fabulous job of setting up the scenario in something close to straight-man fashion, and then hits us between the eyes with something completely hilarious, whether it be of the idiot-pratfall variety, or something a little more along the lines of gallows humor. Westlake builds his characters with an equal mix of prowess, humor, and even occasional poignancy (I found a soft spot for the socially inept Wally). A side character named Bob, who comes into the story peripherally and could have been treated by the author as a complete side-issue, is instead an absolutely side-splitting diversion.

If you are looking for a unique (oh lordy) plot with a lot of good guffaws and snickers on the side, this book is for you. As for me, I just put the rest of the Dortmunder series on my wish list. Once I make my way through those, I may try the books he's written outside the series, too.

Drowned Hopes: the longest Dortmunder novel including a character inspired by the books from this other great great great american master of the "Série Noire": Jim Thompson (Tom Jimson in the Dortmunder novel). Westlake knew and appreciated Jim Thompson's work (Westlake was awarded for his screenplay adapted from Jim Thompson's novel "The Grifters"). We can only dream of what the result would have been if Westlake had adapted "A Hell of a Woman", "Pop. 1280" or "The Killer Inside Me" (french film directors Tavernier and Corneau did an excellent job on the first ones respectively re-baptized "Série Noire" and "Coup de Torchon").

So this book is not only another Dortmunder novel, it is also the "hommage" of a giant american writer to another one - full with hidden references and various levels of reading.

For the american fans who might not know, also see the adaptation of Westlake's novel "The Ax" by film director Costa-Gavras - an absolute delight...

Originally published in 1990, Drowned Hopes is twice the length of other Dortmunder adventures and with the exception of maybe Kahawa, it's Westlake's longest word count novel ever. Granted some of the characters and their scenes may have been unnecessary and not needed for the plot to work but all these non reoccurring in other Dortmunder adventure characters are very interesting and lots of fun. With Westlake passing away in 2008, we're not going to get any new comic capers or eccentric characters from that brilliant mind. So I see librarian Myrtle Street, computer obsessed funny looking Wally and his best friend computer, as well as the evil old man Tom Jinson along with the mini adventures he has with Dortmunder to recover his various hidden loots to finance the main one as a nice bonus to the usual caper.

The basic plot of Drowned Hopes is John Dortmunder returns to his flat to find a mean old man on his couch. This 70 year old is Tom Jinson the last person Dortmunder ever thought the prison system would release. Overcrowding though has his in Dortmunder's life telling him he needs him to accompany him to a small town to dig up money from an armoured car robbery he hid $700 000 behind a library a long time ago. Saying no to Tom is not good for your health so Dortmunder accompanies him north only to learn the loot isn't just buried under dirt but while Tom was behind bars a reservoir providing drinking water for New York was built and that town is now under 50 feet of water. Problems with environmental terrorists in the past have meant the dam is fenced and anyone found inside will be arrested. Tom has a simple solution and points out to Dortmunder where they will place the dynamite. Thousands of innocent people in the town below will drown and this is something beyond Dortmunder's criminal morals so he convinces Tom to let him come up with another plan. Tom doesn't care either way as long as he gets his money but he's not waiting for ever and in the meantime he'll crash on Dortmunder's couch.

This is a really good story, I particularly liked Dortmunder's race against a computer to come up with the result for his own pride element as well. Being this was written in 1990 some of the computer fears of characters are a little dated but nothing you can't live with. If you haven't read any other Dortmunder novels you can easily start with this one. Other criminals who have appeared regularly throughout the other novels, Kelp, Stan and Tiny are all in this one too.

I listened to Drowned Hopes in audio form and part of my great enjoyment of the book was from narrator Kramer's skill at deadpan delivery of Westlake's humor. His voices are dead-on perfect and his timing borders on genius. I'd much rather have him perform the next Dortmunder book for me than read it to myself!

Westlake is an unexpected surprise: he is intellectual, funny, and meticulous in his research (thus creating easily believable locales, characters and situations.) His wordcraft is right up there with the best, and I especially love his similes. I'll be looking for his other books, both Dortmunder and not.