Drowned Hopes

A Dortmunder Novel

By: Donald E Westlake

Narrated by: Arte Johnson

A comic crime masterpiece featuring anti-hero John Dortmunder.

Arriving home after another failed burglary, John Dortmunder is shocked to find his apartment occupied by a notorious cellmate that everyone had supposed (and hoped) had been jailed for life. Tom Jimson needs Dortmunder's help. Thirty years before his last prison stretch, Tom had pulled a big job up near Albany, one that left a cool $700,000 in cash buried under a water reservoir near Albany, New York. Tom's plan is to blow up the dam, flood the surrounding countryside, and grab the cash. With the fate of 900 small town nobodies hanging in the balance, Dortmunder races against Tom's itchy dynamite finger to formulate an alternative plan for retrieving the loot. Thus begins a complex caper of misadventure and hilarity as only Donald E. Westlake can tell.

©1991 Donald E. Westlake (P)1991 Phoenix Books, Inc.

Dortmunder fan

I read this book a few years ago and loved it. Arte Johnson did an excellent job with the reading. He did a very well changing voices during the rapid fire conversations as well as adding occasional sound effects. Only complaint is that it was too short!

Abridged leaving most of the book out

Drowned Hopes is a great book and if you ever get a chsnce to read or listen to the unabridged book, it’s well worth it. I would not have bought this if I had realized that so much of it and so many good scenes had been cut out. I found it more difficult to follow as a result; less understanding of the characters and action piled on action. I wish Audible had an unabridged version.

Lesser Dortmunder story with rushed narration

This is a typical misadventure with Dortmunder and co. that introduces a couple new (but not particularly interesting or believable) characters. The story is marred by some convenient coincidences and a sudden and unsatisfying ending. It also seems a shorter adventure than the others so far. A bigger issue is the sound. The volume jumps from a murmur to a shout and back, requiring adjustment by the listener. The biggest issue was the narrator, Arte Johnson, who rushes through the text. His breakneck pace robs the dialog of cadence and inflection, making the speakers hard to distinguish. Arte attempts some accents but they drift from scene to scene. Whether it is the pace or lack of inflection, Dortmunder's weary fatalism and Kelp's optimism weren't as apparent. I'd previously read this book and was more satisfied with the story so I have to believe the biggest issue with the Audible version is with the narrator.

Greatness

The honesty about criminally thinking. And of course, the humor in the way the criminals do not think or do not have the intelligence to Bank.

Great story, poor audio production

Classic Westlake, great plot, but sound alternates between inaudible whispers and blaring. Had to constantly adjust volume to follow.