Drowned Hopes

The Dortmunder Novels, Book 7

By: Donald E. Westlake

Narrated by: Justin Price

This rollicking tale of an aging robber who wants to blow up a reservoir "will keep readers laughing" (Publishers Weekly).

In his day, Tom was a hard man. He came up with Dillinger in the 1930s, and pulled a lot of high-profile jobs before the state put him away. They meant it to be for good, but after twenty-three years the prisons are too crowded for seventy-year-old bank robbers, and so they let the old man go. Finally free, he heads straight for John Dortmunder's house. Long ago, Tom buried $700,000, and now he needs help digging it up. While he was inside, the government dammed a nearby river, creating a reservoir and putting fifty feet of water on top of his money. He wants to blow the dam, drown the villagers, and move to Acapulco. If Dortmunder wants a clean conscience to go along with his share, he needs to find a nice way to get the money before Tom's nasty instincts get the best of both of them.

©1990 Donald E. Westlake (P)2024 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

The number of times I laughed out loud. I thought I'd never stop laughing when Kelp said "My cat's asleep."

The Dortmunder stories and characters are consistent book after book. I'm grateful Mr Westlake has not changed a good thing

Great story

Of course lots of fun and smart plotting by the master of his own genre. Excellent that we get 16 hours of DW's humour and wry dialogue. Definitely recommended.