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In Donald E. Westlake's classic caper novels, the bad get better, the good slide a bit, and Lord help anyone caught between a thief named John Dortmunder and the current object of his attention.
However, being caught red-handed is inevitable in Dortmunder's next production, when a TV producer convinces this thief and his merry gang to do a reality show that captures their next score. The producer guarantees to find a way to keep the show from being used in evidence against them. They're dubious, but the pay is good, so they take him up on his offer.
A mock-up of the OJ bar is built in a warehouse down on Varick Street. The ground floor of that building is a big open space jumbled with vehicles used in TV world, everything from a news truck and a fire engine to a hansom cab (without the horse).
As the gang plans their next move with the cameras rolling, Dortmunder and Kelp sneak onto the roof of their new studio to organize a private enterprise. It will take an ingenious plan to outwit viewers glued to their television sets, but Dortmunder is nothing if not persistent, and he's determined to end this shoot with money in his pockets.
"Starred Review. The assorted idiosyncrasies of the group's members and the interactions among them will rouse chuckles from even jaded readers." - Publishers Weekly
"Starred Review. The late, lamented Westlake was in top form with the fifteenth and final installment of this series of comic capers that began with The Hot Rock in the 1970s." - Booklist
"Starred Review. Westlake, who died last New Year's Eve, will be sorely missed, but he has left a fine last work that will add to his legacy." - Library Journal
"This one is as beguiling as the rest ... with the bonus of exquisitely placed jibes at reality TV." - Kirkus Reviews.
This information about Get Real was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Donald E. Westlake wrote over a 100 novels and nonfiction works over
thirty-five years under his own name and many pseudonyms, including Richard
Stark and Alan Marshall. Many of his books have been made into movies,
including The Hunter, which became Point Blank, and
the 1999 smash hit Payback. He penned the Hollywood scripts for The
Stepfather and The Grifters, which was nominated for an Academy Award
for Best Screenplay. The winner of three Edgar awards and a Mystery Writers of
America Grand Master, Donald E. Westlake was presented with The Eye, the Private
Eye Writers of America's Lifetime Achievement Award, at the Shamus Awards.
He died of a heart attack in December 2008. He is survived by his wife,
Abby Adams, and seven adult children.
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