Amazon.com: Killing Time: Donald E. Westlake: Books

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3.0 out of 5 stars Westlake's Second Novel Published Under His Own Name Will Kill the Time if You're Bored!, January 22, 2009

By	James N Simpson (Gold Coast, QLD Australia) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Killing Time (Mass Market Paperback)

Like all of Westlake's older work this is very hard to find and a bit expensive to buy. Is it worth it? I'd say get one of his others instead. Plus it's not a comic caper and Hard Case Crime seems to be slowly publishing all the hard non comic caper crime Westlake novels anyway (they just did his first novel the Mercinaries (under the title The Cutie) so it's very likely this one won't be too far down the track.

What's Killing Time about? Well basically it's a mystery sort of thing where the main character an private eye has to work out who is constantly trying to kill him from a group of townspeople he previously thought were his friends and loyal to him since he was to them. A radical group called The Citizens for Clean Government (CFCG) has run corruption out of other small towns in New York state they have invaded. Now Winston is their next target. Unfortunately for Tim Smith being the only private eye in town means he has all the dirt of most of the citizens this group is after. Rather than trust in his loyalty it seems one of the politicians, police men or other important locals who have been living the easy see the only way to protect themselves is to kill him.

An interesting story but nothing special and not in the league of a lot of Westlake's other work. You can see the beginnings of ideas for Parker (a character he writes under the Richard Stark pen name) and even elements that would later become comic capers such as Tim Smith and the other characters are all obese individuals. Worth checking out if your fan of Westlake's harder crime or mysteries but for the casual reader or specifically looking for comic caper reader, I'd try one of his others instead.

Like all of Westlake's older work this is very hard to find and a bit expensive to buy. Is it worth it? I'd say get one of his others instead. Plus it's not a comic caper and Hard Case Crime seems to be slowly publishing all the hard non comic caper crime Westlake novels anyway (they just did his first novel the Mercenaries (under the title The Cutie) so it's very likely this one won't be too far down the track.

What's Killing Time about? Well basically it's a mystery sort of thing where the main character an private eye has to work out who is constantly trying to kill him from a group of townspeople he previously thought were his friends and loyal to him since he was to them. A radical group called The Citizens for Clean Government (CFCG) has run corruption out of other small towns in New York state they have invaded. Now Winston is their next target. Unfortunately for Tim Smith being the only private eye in town means he has all the dirt of most of the citizens this group is after. Rather than trust in his loyalty it seems one of the politicians, police men or other important locals who have been living the easy see the only way to protect themselves is to kill him.

An interesting story but nothing special and not in the league of a lot of Westlake's other work. You can see the beginnings of ideas for Parker (a character he writes under the Richard Stark pen name) and even elements that would later become comic capers such as Tim Smith and the other characters are all obese individuals. Worth checking out if your fan of Westlake's harder crime or mysteries but for the casual reader or specifically looking for comic caper reader, I'd try one of his others instead.

The best four comic capers at an absolute masterpiece level are, Smoke, The Spy in the Ointment and a New York Dance (also published as Dancing Aztecs) and Cops and Robbers. Other great comic capers worth checking out too are Gangway!, God Save the Mark, Who Stole Sassi Manoon?, Help I am Being Held Prisoner, Castle in the Air, Enough and High Adventure to name just a few!

Of course you've also got to check out his absolute masterpiece The Ax.

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