Review by Booklist Review
All the usual Westlake suspects are back in another fine mess, or in this case in a delightful collection of 11 Dortmunder stories. The swift succession of heists, getaways, scrapes, and screwups gathered in Thieves' Dozen 0 epitomizes the venal joys of the comic caper. Each gambit is filled with engaging twists, such as when the gang tunnels into a bank vault only to find it packed with hostages from an armed robbery already in progress, or when they start a stampede while attempting to boost a stud racehorse. Then there's the deceptively simple challenge of getting across town with a ham sandwich in which is secreted a stolen emerald brooch, or the synchronized scrapes of crooks converging on a bashed-in bank in "Fugue for Felons." The short-story form is well suited to Westlake's sly shenanigans, and he even finds room for snippets of the Runyonesque repartee that gives this inspired nonsense just the right touch of absurd panache. These stories are real jewels--an excellent introduction to Dortmunder for a wide range of comic crime and mystery readers. --David Wright Copyright 2004 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Mystery NOTES Donald E. Westlake's irresistible Thieves' Dozen collects all 10 tales of his hapless thief John Dortmunder, most of which appeared in Playboy. The author provides an amusing introduction as well as an 11th tale, original to this volume, that features his crook hero under a pseudonym or at least a character a lot like Dortmunder.(Apr) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review
John Dortmunder, who's been stealing anything that isn't nailed down since 1970 (see above), is probably the reason this thieves' dozen includes only 11 short stories. And if we ever catch up with him and that other perp, Westlake, we're going to make them fork over the rest. Where to begin among these reprints, all making their hardcover debuts? Echt Dortmunder, of course, is "Too Many Crooks," in which the hapless thief participates unintentionally in simultaneous bank robberies. Arnie Albright, the fence sorely in need of a personality implant, pops up in both "Jumble," where he foils a cop sting, then gets duped by Dortmunder, and in "Now What?," a gaudily eventful day in the life of Dortmunder. Andy Kelp turns up in "Horse Laugh" and "A Midsummer Daydream," and the other regulars are always on tap at the O.J. Bar & Grill. Mostly, though, it's all Dortmunder all the time, with nothing but jewels, coins, and purloined cash for company. As for those guys in "Fugue," a bank robbery gone to the dogs, Westlake explains they're mostly the old gang with aliases necessitated by a contract dispute with a movie company, although the Dortmunder wannabe, Ramsey, may have taken on a life of his own. Irresistible. After reading about a certain card game herein, there's probably not a mystery reader alive who wouldn't beg to sit at Dortmunder's poker table. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
