1982; 240 pages. Book #5 (out of 14) in the “Dortmunder” series (plus 11 other short
stories, according to Wikipedia). New Author? : No. Genre : Crime Fiction; Humorous Crime. Overall Rating : 8*/10.
The Byzantine Fire is a huge ruby, worth a
quarter million dollars as a gemstone, and even more for its historical
value. At Kennedy Airport, the US was
about to hand it over to Turkish officials as a goodwill gesture amid tight
security, accompanied a couple of NYPD’s finest, when a team of commandos,
speaking Greek, up and robbed them of it.
Needless to say, this very much embarrassed and angered the Americans
and the Turks, to say nothing of the New York City Police Department. But wouldn’t you know it, someone in turn
robbed the robbers of this precious jewel.
Now all sorts of others are enraged – Greeks, Armenians, Lebanese,
Bulgarians, a bunch of religious zealots, and even the NYC criminal element
when the cops started putting the heat on them because of the heist.
Whoever stole it from the Greek thieves will find the Byzantine Fire
impossible to fence, and will be lucky if he/she/they survive at all as soon as
they show it. Who would do such a
stupid, suicidal thing?
Well, they don’t call this the Dortmunder series for nothing.
What’s To Like...
Why Me? is book
5 in Donald E. Westlake’s immensely popular “Dortmunder” series, which
chronicles the heists perpetrated by the inept, yet lovable, and ultimately
successful light-fingered thief, John Dortmunder. I’ve read five other books in the series, but
four of them are from late in the series, so this one was kind of a treat for
me. Most of John’s “gang” have only
slight roles, with the exception of Andy Kelp.
And “Tiny” Bulcher, is more of a threat than an ally here, which was an unusual twist.
Why Me? was published in 1982, and it
was kind of weird to see Dortmunder struggling with his first encounter with
someone’s (landline) telephone hooked to an answering machine. I remember those days; they are thankfully
long gone.
The
chapters are short – 46 of them covering 240 pages, so you can always find a
good place to stop. The pacing is good; there are no slow spots. There’s a bunch
of cussing; I don’t recall as much in the later books in the series, but it fit
in with the tone of the story. However,
the use of the N-word did disturb me, as well as several other ethnic
slurs. I recognize that at one time
these were acceptable in a book (John Steinbeck’s The
Grapes of Wrath uses the N-word a number of times), but it grates on my
reading nerves, and isn’t necessary nowadays.
What
I did like were the various intellectual debates among the patrons of the O.J.
Bar and Grill; those were simply hilarious.
And of course, Donald Westlake’s wit is here in abundance, which is always
a treat. This is a standalone novel, as
are all the Dortmunder tales. I am not
reading them in order, and I don’t feel like I’m missing much.
Excerpts...
“But the main problem right now, “ Cabot
said, “aside from the loss of the ring itself, of course, is all the foreign
gunmen running around New York, hunting the ring and one another. This theft is enough of an international
incident as it is; Washington would be very
displeased if New York were turned into another Beirut, with shooting in the
streets.”
“New York would be displeased, too,”
Freedly said. (loc. 1034)
“It was
circumstantial evidence.”
“Don’t tell me about circumstantial evidence,”
O’Hara said. “I did a nickel-dime once
for hitting a lumberyard safe, and all they had on me was sawdust in my cuffs.”
“That’s
terrible,” Kelp said. “Where’d they nab
you?”
“In the
lumberyard office.” (loc.
3570)
Kindle Details...
Why Me? sells for $7.99
at Amazon, although I got my copy for free as a library loan. The other books in the “Dortmunder” series are in the price
range of $6.99-$9.99. Donald E.
Westlake also has a bunch more “hard-boiled” crime-mystery e-books available. They go for $4.60-$12.99.
“Valuable things get stolen,
am I right? That’s what they’re for.” (loc. 755)
Let’s
be frank, Donald E. Westlake’s Dortmunder books are formulaic. Dortmunder acquires some larcenous loot,
sometimes by accident (such as is the case here), more often via
some hare-brained but effective scheme he cooks up. Mayhem ensues, and somehow karma
prevails. The ill-gotten gains are lost
to Dortmunder, but either returned to
their rightful owner or given over to some charitable cause.
Why Me? is no exception to this, and that’s okay by me. After reading 6 of the 14 books in the
series, I’m still not burnt out on it. FWIW.
I’ve read several of Donald Westlake’s “non-Dortmunder” books and have enjoyed
them almost as much. I have not,
however, read any of his serious-&-gritty detective stories.
8 Stars. It’s a shame Donald Westlake passed away in
2008 after a prolific, nearly writing career spanning nearly 50 years. Sadly, no one has picked up the mantle and
continued the Dortmunder series. I, for
one, would welcome it.
