Two Much!

Rating:
Summary: A Modern Morality Tale Disguised as a Mystery
Review: Two Much is an uneasy blend of several genres, and even Westlake, the master of the comic crime subgenre, can't pull this one off. The book is a blend of crime caper, humor, and morality tale, and it left me, at least, strongly dissatisfied.

Art Dodge is a writer of comic greeting cards until he meets wealthy and beautiful twins, and decides he'd like both the ladies and all their money. Art spawns a twin, Bart, and together they seduce their way into two relationships, with Art growing more exhausted all the time. Art eventually decides he's going to have to resolve the situation, criminally.

Here's the thing: parts of this novel are intended to be strictly humorous, and they are, with Art dodging between his two girlfriends and trying to remember who he is and where he's supposed to be. Then the thing metamorphoses into a serious study of the criminal mind, and loses pretty much all its humor in an ending that is utterly out of character with the rest of the book. It's like the author underwent a massive mood swing two-thirds of the way into the book. I found this change of pace, tone, and content jarring and distressing - and, of course, it utterly ruins any re-read you might happen to be planning.

Frankly, Westlake can do better than this. Much better. And he has. I would recommend this book only to serious Westlake fans seeking to complete their collections. Those looking for an entertaining, funny read should turn to the Dortmunder series, or some of the comic standalones, like Dancing Aztecs. Those looking for a tense and serious read should head for The Hook or The Ax. And those looking for a tight, hard mystery would probably appreciate Westlake's work as Richard Stark more.

Rating:
Summary: A Modern Morality Tale Disguised as a Mystery
Review: Two Much is an uneasy blend of several genres, and even Westlake, the master of the comic crime subgenre, can't pull this one off. The book is a blend of crime caper, humor, and morality tale, and it left me, at least, strongly dissatisfied.

Art Dodge is a writer of comic greeting cards until he meets wealthy and beautiful twins, and decides he'd like both the ladies and all their money. Art spawns a twin, Bart, and together they seduce their way into two relationships, with Art growing more exhausted all the time. Art eventually decides he's going to have to resolve the situation, criminally.

Here's the thing: parts of this novel are intended to be strictly humorous, and they are, with Art dodging between his two girlfriends and trying to remember who he is and where he's supposed to be. Then the thing metamorphoses into a serious study of the criminal mind, and loses pretty much all its humor in an ending that is utterly out of character with the rest of the book. It's like the author underwent a massive mood swing two-thirds of the way into the book. I found this change of pace, tone, and content jarring and distressing - and, of course, it utterly ruins any re-read you might happen to be planning.

Frankly, Westlake can do better than this. Much better. And he has. I would recommend this book only to serious Westlake fans seeking to complete their collections. Those looking for an entertaining, funny read should turn to the Dortmunder series, or some of the comic standalones, like Dancing Aztecs. Those looking for a tense and serious read should head for The Hook or The Ax. And those looking for a tight, hard mystery would probably appreciate Westlake's work as Richard Stark more.