Mixed Pickles - the Book log 2012

Donald Westlake may be gone, but as long as there are books like this around, unpublished in Britain for more than fifteen years after its original appearance in the States, there is still something to look forward to. Westlake had two succesful careers as a writer, in parallel - one as Richard Stark, writer of the "Parker" series of novels (remember "Point Blank", the Lee Marvin anti-hero vehicle from the Sixties - and forget the Mel Gibson remake. That was a "Parker") and one under the Westlake name. Both wrote from the viewpoint of the criminal, and you always found yourself rooting for the bad guy. Stark's Parker was a deep, silent, vicious killer, but Westlake's strength is the "caper" novel - a gang set up a heist and the reader is privileged to sit on the planning and the execution. More entertainingly, Dortmunder (Westlake's lead character), although a masterful planner and executer, is plain unlucky. Invariably, whatever he steals has to be restolen, recovered, and then stolen all over again.
In this one, he is paid to steal a sacred relic (a saint's thighbone) that is being used as a bargaining chip in the attempt of a newly formed eastern European country to gain a seat in the UN. Simple, huh? If only.
The continuing cast of supporting characters delight, Westlake's dialogue is snappy and funny, and the bits of business work - what could seem contrived comes across as perfectly natural. And the inconsequential conversations in the bar he attends make Pulp Fiction's "cheeseburger" discourse, and Reservoir Dogs's "Like A Virgin" debate seem both important and dull. Ever wondered why the Indy Five Hundred is called the Indy Five Hundred? Or why cable TVs need cables and radios don't? The regulars in the OJ Bar & Grill 'll set you straight in no time.