Book Review: The Road to Ruin

Reviewed By: Luke Croll - RAM

The Road to Ruin     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Donald E. Westlake
Class/Genre:   Mystery
Series: John Dortmunder # 12
2004, Mysterious Press, 342 pages

In his latest novel, Westlake returns to his long-established Dortmunder series. As ever, Dortmunder and his partners in crime have a cunning plan. Monroe Hall, a rather rich man, has become a pariah after an embarrassing legal problem. He can no longer get any staff to run his estate in Pennsylvania. However, when Dortmunder and his gang learn of this, they decide to get jobs at his estate - and rob him. Are they finally going to succeed?

As usual, Westlake’s writing is easy to read and you will find the pages moving by with incredible speed. He adds in a liberal amount of his trademark wry humour and his parodying of the fallen rich through the character of Monroe Hall is especially sharp. Westlake also manages two plots, as seemingly unconnected characters start to intertwine.

At times, events in the book are intentionally ridiculous; you will find yourself laughing out loud. The sheer incompetence of some of the criminals is astonishing, yet they still manage to avoid any major disasters. Dortmunder’s imitation of a butler will have every reader raising a smile, as will Westlake’s dialogue in general.

As the blurb says, ‘Donald E. Westlake has single-handedly put the caper into the crime novel’. ‘The Road To Ruin’ is no exception to this rule. The book is of a reasonable length, but since the pace is so fast, it does not feel as though it is 342 pages long. Dortmunder fans will not be disappointed in Westlake’s latest work and if you have never tried him before, this may well be a good place to start.

Luke Croll - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Luke Croll - RAM

Luke Croll - Conference interpreter and translator
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