The Hot Rock

The First Dortmunder Novel

By: Donald E. Westlake

Narrated by: Jeff Woodman

John Dortmunder and company are hired by an U.N. African Ambassador to steal the famed Balabomo Emerald from the hands of a rival African country. But their daring and clever burglarly goes awry, and the emerald slips through their fingers. Undaunted, Dortmunder chases the gem by plane, train and automobile in hot pursuit of the hot rock.

Listen to another Dortmunder caper.©1970 Donald E. Westlake (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Westlake's novel comes awesomely close to the ultimate in comic, big-caper novels; it's so filled with…action and imagination." ( New York Times Book Review)

"Westlake is a master hand at the running gag….This Westlake brought on such a case of the laughing bends that I required decompression." ( Washington Post)

All-Time Top 100 Mysteries (Mystery Writers of America)

Dortmunder and Gang Come Alive!

Would you listen to The Hot Rock again? Why?

I have listened to this audiobook several times already, and will undoubtedly listen again. First of all, it's a great story -- I read the novel years ago and went on to read all of the Dortmunder books. (Never thought I'd bond with a bunch of petty criminals, but I did.) And the narrator is wonderful. He reads the prose with just the right attitude (usually kind of a dead-pan fatalism, if it's Dortmunder's thoughts he's tracking) and marvelous voices. Each and every character has distinction. Kelp, Murch and Dortmunder sound exactly like themselves, so much so that it's hard to believe sometimes that there's one man reading them all. And they're all really fun characters to begin with.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

The plot of The Hot Rock is unbelievable, over-the-top, and yet I bought every bit of it. If a thing could go wrong, it generally did ... but then our heroes (such as they are) kept pulling things back from certain doom.

Which character – as performed by Jeff Woodman – was your favorite?

My favorite character is Murch. And Kelp. And Dortmunder. Oh, and there was this great German Shepherd that had Dortmunder trapped on a porch ... Jeff Woodman does a really great German Shepherd, too.

Any additional comments?

More Dortmunder/Jeff Woodman, please!

Caper Caper Caper (and more Capers)

A fun fast-paced old school "how will they get out of this one" story. Westlake keeps the action--and the humor--going from the beginning to the end.

The narration is good. Woodman doesn't get in the way of the story which is the most important job of a narrator.

A Comedy of Crooks

What did you love best about The Hot Rock?

The sometimes dry and sometimes quick humor. Totally different angle to a crooks story.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Yes when I wasn't rolling over in laughter.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

He takes some getting use to but eventually it works.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, though it took a little longer.

Any additional comments?

Just a comedy of fools and errors. I think you'll enjoy it.

love these books

It has been years since I read these-they're still great. Excellent narration. Highly recommend.

Oh No! Not Again!

If you could sum up The Hot Rock in three words, what would they be?

Really? Not Again! -- "How many times does Dortmunder have to steal this thing?" It's a fair question and one that you will be asking yourself throughout the novel.

What did you like best about this story?

Well, you can't take it too seriously. Unlike Westlake's Parker novels (written under the name Richard Stark), the Dortmunder novels are penned in a comic vein. The feel is a bit like Ocean's Eleven.

Any additional comments?

Woodman delivers a great performance. I was constantly chuckling. The characters are well delineated and Westlake's language, as usual, is spot on. Good stuff.

Wonderful fun.

I bought this book looking for something a bit lighter than the histories and biographies I had been reading and was delighted with my choice. I guessed that any book that had as many sequels as the Dortmunder books was probably worth taking the time to read and I was well pleased with the choice.

Dortmunder is, of course, a career criminal and that is not someone I could normally identify with. He makes his living stealing and, at the start of the book, is leaving prison after two convictions. Another conviction means life in prison. That might be enough incentive for most people to try to make an honest living, but not Dortmunder. I suppose what makes him an interesting character is the bad luck that follows his actions. In this story he, and his fellow criminals, have to commit a whole series of crimes to try to rescue their initial prize with each attempt funnier and more complex than the last. All the characters associated with Dortmunder are interesting and, while reading, I could not help but think of Damon Runyon's characters.

Of course no one in this story is an innocent bystander so the long series of mis-chances that take place are comical and the ending is absolutely inspired. I was so pleased with this book that I rented the dvd of the movie. While that was a terrible mistake (the movie is just awful) the book is a gem. I have decided to read more books in this series and have already added "Nobodys Perfect" to my Wish List. It is hard to believe that other books in the series will equal this one in sheer enjoyment but I will see …

The book is excellently read by Jeff Woodman and I recommend it as a light read good for a lot of laughs, some of them guffaws.

Charming story straight from 1970 - bad narration

The story is very charming, that it was written in 1970 adds a lovely nostalgia to it. It's not a fast paced thriller, but a cute, funny crime story (it gets funnier the farther you get, I agree with other reviewers that it's a bit bland in the beginning). Not a must-read, but definitely an enjoy-to-read.

Surprisingly though, there aren't a lot of reviews about the narration. Woodman has a very pleasant voice, but his narration is a bit catastrophic, he leaves much of the novel's potential untapped. It's all about the characters and their interplay, but only two or three of the main characters enjoy any depth in the narration. Dortmunder himself is not among them - Woodman endows him with his regular narration voice, which is young and light. There are indications in the text that Dortmunder is actually reluctant and tired and rolling his eyes most of the time. We don't hear any of that through Woodman though. Very sad, a better narrator could have made this raucously funny.

In addition, the African characters have Pakistani accents, which is hard to handle.

Hysterical Heist Book

Dortmunder and his crew of neurotic thieves are even more priceless than the emerald they are stealing. The reader is great.

So glad to have a new recording of this classic!

The Hot Rock, for my money, remains one of Westlake's funniest books. The introduction to Dortmunder, his ne'er-do-well thief and caper organizer, still makes me laugh out loud frequently.

I began to listen to Jeff Woodman's new narration with hesitation. I had previously listened to (several times, years ago) Michael Kramer's 1998 recording from Books-on-Tape, and thought that it couldn't possibly be surpassed. But about an hour into the listen, I knew that Woodman was doing a masterful job. Chuckles continue to escape from me as I listen.

If you are looking for a good listen that will make you laugh, try this one out. It has become a classic for me!

Five Heists For the Price of One

I saw The Hot Rock when it first came out as a movie in 1972, when I was 15. My friends and I loved it, quoted it endlessly. It has since passed out of our collective cinematic memory, did so almost instantly in fact, in part due to Robert Redford's unhappiness with it (he kept it from being released on video for a long time). But when I saw it come up in a recent BOGO sale -- I didn't even know it was originally a book -- I thought I'd give it a try.

So it didn't keep me on the edge of my seat, since I knew how it was going to go, but I don't think it was written that way -- it's a comic caper in the 60s tradition with the twist being that the gang has to commit a series of heists to get their target -- the hot rock of the title. Each heist is pulled off perfectly, except that they don't get the emerald, and therefore have to go after it again.

And in addition to the plot, the characters are well drawn -- stereotypical petty thieves to begin with, but each with a personality quirk that broadens their character, often to comedic effect. Bottom line, it was a quick fun read (listen) that for me harked back to a long forgotten pop culture touchstone from my youth.

Jeff Woodman's voices are just OK. The best narrators find a voice or a series of voices that beat out what you could come up with in your imagination -- these voices are stereotypes, exactly what you would imagine. Maybe it's unfair for me to judge since in this particular case as the voices in my head sound a lot like Redford, George Segal, Zero Mostel & Co.