Rating: 
Summary: A Laugh-out-loud Caper
Review: Donald Westlake is a master of the absurd and unpredictable. His caper novels pack more hilarious twists and turns with every page. Expect to laugh out loud several times during this book!
Rating:
Summary: Westlake's a weirdo
Review: Drowned Hopes is a very odd story with Westlake's famous character John Dortmunder under the influence of an aged ex-convict Tom. Westlakes successfully ties in subtle bits of humor into the novel's strange plot. Decent book.
Rating:
Summary: Westlake's a weirdo
Review: Drowned Hopes is a very odd story with Westlake's famous character John Dortmunder under the influence of an aged ex-convict Tom. Westlakes successfully ties in subtle bits of humor into the novel's strange plot. Decent book.
Rating: 
Summary: Poor Plans, Ineptness and a Nasty Villain Mar the Story
Review: Drowned Hopes presents Dortmunder with a special challenge. His old cell-mate, Tom Jimson, is released from prison unexpectedly to ease crowding, and seeks out Dortmunder to rescue a stash of $700,000 buried in a casket under 50 feet of water in an upstate New York reservoir. Tom's the nastiest con to ever visit behind bars. He's rather kill than think. If Dortmunder can't come up with a slick plan, Jimson plans to dynamite the reservoir's dam and drown hundreds in the process. The book then details the many schemes, preparations and efforts involved in attempting to recover the casket. I found this book to be a big disappointment. Dortmunder novels are usually very interesting because Dortmunder comes up with plans to steal that are ingenious. It's only the fickle finger of fate that fouls him up, with something that no one could expect. Uncharacteristically in Drowned Hopes, Dortmunder only comes up with plans that are obviously not going to work based on his poor planning, preparation and execution of the plans. So it's like watching the Keystone Kops as robbers rather than a Dortmunder novel. As a result, the book only provided moments of interesting plot developments for me. To give you some sense of how ridiculous the plans are, the third one that Dortmunder comes up with is probably the one you would have thought of in 30 seconds. Another problem with the story is that Tom is too nasty a character. It's just plain unpleasant to read about him and what he has done. The book's final problem is that it moves v . . . e . . . r . . . y s . . . l . . . o . . . w . . . l . . . y. There is not as much good material here as in a Dortmunder 240 page novel, but this one is 422 pages long. Unless you feel compelled to read all the Dortmunder novels, I suggest you skip this one. If you do decide to read the book, think about other places where more is less such as eating three pizzas rather then one, or walking 15 miles in a day rather than five. Where could your life benefit from doing less?
Rating:
Summary: Poor Plans, Ineptness and a Nasty Villain Mar the Story
Review: Drowned Hopes presents Dortmunder with a special challenge. His old cell-mate, Tom Jimson, is released from prison unexpectedly to ease crowding, and seeks out Dortmunder to rescue a stash of $700,000 buried in a casket under 50 feet of water in an upstate New York reservoir. Tom's the nastiest con to ever visit behind bars. He's rather kill than think. If Dortmunder can't come up with a slick plan, Jimson plans to dynamite the reservoir's dam and drown hundreds in the process. The book then details the many schemes, preparations and efforts involved in attempting to recover the casket. I found this book to be a big disappointment. Dortmunder novels are usually very interesting because Dortmunder comes up with plans to steal that are ingenious. It's only the fickle finger of fate that fouls him up, with something that no one could expect. Uncharacteristically in Drowned Hopes, Dortmunder only comes up with plans that are obviously not going to work based on his poor planning, preparation and execution of the plans. So it's like watching the Keystone Kops as robbers rather than a Dortmunder novel. As a result, the book only provided moments of interesting plot developments for me. To give you some sense of how ridiculous the plans are, the third one that Dortmunder comes up with is probably the one you would have thought of in 30 seconds. Another problem with the story is that Tom is too nasty a character. It's just plain unpleasant to read about him and what he has done. The book's final problem is that it moves v . . . e . . . r . . . y s . . . l . . . o . . . w . . . l . . . y. There is not as much good material here as in a Dortmunder 240 page novel, but this one is 422 pages long. Unless you feel compelled to read all the Dortmunder novels, I suggest you skip this one. If you do decide to read the book, think about other places where more is less such as eating three pizzas rather then one, or walking 15 miles in a day rather than five. Where could your life benefit from doing less?
Rating: 
Summary: Classic Westlake/Dortmunder
Review: Having read all of the previous Dortmunder novels, I found it increasingly difficult to think that Westlake would or could top himself with the genius of this series. Again, he proved me wrong with "Drowned Hopes." No one can turn a phrase, develop a character or dream a scenario the way Westlake does. "Drowned Hopes" brings back many of the great characters from the previous Dortmunder novels and as always, throws in a few new ones to round out the brilliant cast. The story is a wild adventure unrivaled in the previous books of the series, taking our hero from NYC, to Oklahoma and even up Abe Lincoln's nose on Mt. Rushmore. I can recommned this book in print and on audio-cassette (with a wonderful performance by Michael Kramer - reader of all the Dortmunder books on tape) where the characters come to life. This one leaves you hungry for more.
Rating:
Summary: Classic Westlake/Dortmunder
Review: Having read all of the previous Dortmunder novels, I found it increasingly difficult to think that Westlake would or could top himself with the genius of this series. Again, he proved me wrong with "Drowned Hopes." No one can turn a phrase, develop a character or dream a scenario the way Westlake does. "Drowned Hopes" brings back many of the great characters from the previous Dortmunder novels and as always, throws in a few new ones to round out the brilliant cast. The story is a wild adventure unrivaled in the previous books of the series, taking our hero from NYC, to Oklahoma and even up Abe Lincoln's nose on Mt. Rushmore. I can recommned this book in print and on audio-cassette (with a wonderful performance by Michael Kramer - reader of all the Dortmunder books on tape) where the characters come to life. This one leaves you hungry for more.
Rating:
Summary: I thought it was a wonderful story
Review: It's a very good story about a thief named Dortmunder Who's old cellmate come's to him for help digging up a 23 year loot from a heist. Dortmunder get's a group together and tries to get the money again and again but they can't make it. The old cellmate wants to blow up the dam so dortmunder has to get the money soon! I forgot to mention that the water's now under a newly built Resevoir!
Rating:
Summary: Westlake is the best
Review: It's not entirely accurate for me to be reviewing just "Drowned Hopes" because, truly, *all* of Donald E. Westlake's comic crime novels are wonderful and entertaining. Don't limit yourself to just this one book (though "Drowned Hopes" is definitely among the better ones, as it features Dortmunder and his hapless crime syndicate). Since many of Westlake's books seem to be out of print at the moment, the library is probably your best bet to catch up on these treasures. But let's start a new campaign to reissue all of Westlake's books!
Rating:
Summary: Westlake is the best
Review: It's not entirely accurate for me to be reviewing just "Drowned Hopes" because, truly, *all* of Donald E. Westlake's comic crime novels are wonderful and entertaining. Don't limit yourself to just this one book (though "Drowned Hopes" is definitely among the better ones, as it features Dortmunder and his hapless crime syndicate). Since many of Westlake's books seem to be out of print at the moment, the library is probably your best bet to catch up on these treasures. But let's start a new campaign to reissue all of Westlake's books!
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