The Hot Rock

This hugely satisfying mystery novel was the first from the prolific Westlake that featured the hapless thief, John Dortmunder, whose brilliant capers always manage to hit unforeseeable snags. Reader Michael Kramer has a flat Midwestern twang, not quite Chicago, maybe Fort Wayne or Detroit, cynical in its breathy, almost drawling depths and smoothly expressive as the characters change. There are no sound effects or music here, just a skilled reader working on an intricate and funny novel, delineating characters through pacing and inflection. More than a half-dozen Dortmunder tales have ensued, and The Hot Rock itself was made into a movie. D.W. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine