Frank H. (perryfran) reviewed on 10/21/2024 + 1223 more book reviews

Over the past few years, I have been reading Westllake's comic Dortmunder novels not in any particular order. Dortmunder is a professional thief who along with his crew tend to foul up most every job they pull. In this one, Dortmunder working alone decides to burglarize a local jewelry store late one night because the owner left a sign on the door saying he would be out of town. Sounds like an invitation to Dortmunder! But shortly after Dortmunder gains entrance to the store, the owner shows up with some other dubious people and places something in the store's safe. Luckily they don't turn on the lights and Dortmunder goes unnoticed. When they leave, Dortmunder has no trouble getting into the safe and pockets everything looking valuable. Among the items is a ring with a large red stone that Dortmunder thinks is fake but takes it anyway to have it looked at by a fence. Turns out the stone is a priceless ruby called the Byzantine Fire which was stolen on its way to being delivered to Turkish representatives. This theft leaves Dortmunder the target of the FBI, the police, and several Turkish, Greek and other terrorist groups who feel the stone is rightfully their's. The theft also causes the harassment of the local underworld by the cops so they too are after whoever took the stone to put an end to their problems with the police. So how will Dortmunder get out of this one?

Another very enjoyable outing from Westlake. This one was full of the usual humor in the series and Dortmunder's first encounter with a phone answering machine is hilarious. This one was published in 1983 and of course is quite dated with the latest thing in phone services playing a big role in the story--answering machines, call forwarding, etc. I'll be looking forward to reading the ones in the series I have missed.

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