Drowned Hopes (A Dortmunder Novel)

By Donald E. Westlake

Back when he was a young man, Dortmunder shared a prison cell with Tom Jimson. Jimson was in for various crimes and should have spent the rest of his life behind bars. But some twenty years or so later, Jimson was released, due to overcrowding. All those years behind bars didn't do a thing to improve his disposition either. He went in a bad guy and came out a bad guy.
One of the crimes Jimson committed (but for which he was not convicted) was the robbery of an armored car that resulted in a take of $700,000. It was buried in a casket behind the library in a small rural town in New York. But in the many years that Jimson was locked up, a lot changed in that small town. Mainly it is covered by a whole lot of water. A dam was built downstream of the town and now the town is at the bottom of a resevoir.
After all those years in prison and given his penchant for killing off his co-conspirators and now an old man, Jimson is going to need help getting his money. Otherwise, as he tells Dortmunder, he will simply blow up the dam and drain the lake and get his money that way and too bad for all the people living downstream of the resevoir. Dortmunder, who knows perfectly well what kind of person Jimson is, feels pressured to come up with a plan that will rescue the money and keep Jimson from creating his devastating flood. But this is way out of Dortmunder's comfort zone and he and his usual gang will find themselves doing things for which they are ill prepared.

This was a very funny story. Dortmunder tries to learn to scuba dive with indifferent success. He brings the usual gang along to help: Andy, who also learns to scuba dive, and Stan the driver, and Tiny the muscle. They also need the help of a couple of new characters: Wally, a computer nerd and Doug, a diver. But even with the help of these two experts, the challenge of digging up a buried casket under fifty feet of water in a dark and murky lake is going to test the gang to the very limits. Even Dortmunder's girlfriend May and Stan's Mom get entangled in the plot, playing key roles. This was just great fun to read and I really enjoyed it.

What's So Funny?

By Donald Westlake

John Dortmunder is one of life's failures. First off he is a career criminal. Secondly he is cursed with bad luck. It's too bad, because he is pretty good at what he does: he's a burglar. If it weren't for his bad luck, he would be a wealthy man. As I have followed his dubious career as told in the Dortmunder novels, I have seen him come so close to the big score only to have it all slip through his fingers, usually do to some unexpected twist of fate.
In What's So Funny, Dortmunder and gang have the opportunity to steal an extremely valuable gold and jeweled chess set that had been originally made for the last czar of Russia. But the revolution ended the czar and the chess set ended up in a warehouse where it was discovered by a group of American soldiers during World War I. They smuggled the chess set back to the USA only to have it stolen by one of their confederates.
At the start of the story, the descendants of one of the soldiers, Mr. Hemlow and his granddaughter, have finally tracked the chess set down and they come to Dortmunder to get him to grab it for them. But the chess set is being fought over by the thieving soldier's descendants and has been locked in a very secure bank vault pending litigation. Dortmunder knows he can't bust into a bank vault, but Johnny Eppick, the ex-cop who is working for Mr. Hemlow, has compromising photos of Dortmunder pulling a heist, and Dortmunder is forced to do the impossible.
Helped by his usual pals, Andy the lock man, Stan the driver, Tiny the muscle and others, Dortmunder comes up with a brilliant plan. Breaking into the bank vault is out. But what if he can arrange for the chess set to be brought out of the vault? This is a surefire, can't fail plan...or will another fortune slip through Dortmunder's sticky fingers?

I enjoyed this novel, just like I have enjoyed the previous Dortmunder stories. If you are a fan of the series, you won't be disappointed in this new installment. But I keep hoping that one day Dortmunder will finally pull off the fabulous score that will set him and his gal May and the rest of the gang up for life. But knowing poor, doomed Dortmunder...

Review from Curled Up with a Good Book:    http://www.curledup.com/whsofuny.htm.