Put a Lid on It

"And then a big, goofy smile lit up his face like a haunted house going up in flames..." - what a great line.

"suffering from expression deficit disorder" describing a waiter.

A little strange in a clash of vibe and time setting. Published and set in the early 00s, there are pretty racist phrases littered in like 'rag heads', which probably people still use today, but don't say out loud very much. It feels like the book was written in the 70s or 80s and updated with modern bits like Meehan being an 'internet technician' or whatever his cover is supposed to be. Clunky.

More trunk novel clues - someone slippery and fake is described as a 'stock swindler' - who would say that now, or even 20 years ago? Hedge fund guy or Bond trader even, but show more stock swindler? Also, no one has a cell phone. Granted it's early days and no smart phones, but professionals of this caliber had Qualcomms or Nokias. I had one and I was a lowly cube-dweller. show less

“They were like a place where the speed limit’s 55, and they enforce 55. Everybody knows you enforce 70.”

Francis Meehan is an accomplished thief who is freed from federal prison by unknown benefactors. He has to steal something for these people to remain free.

And it’s something that could upset the reelection of the President of the United States.

“Given time, Francis,” Benjamin said, “and the spin doctors at our command, we could counteract the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and you’d vote for Pontius Pilate.” Sound familiar?

Meehan is a tougher Dortmunder and a gentler Parker, in the Westlake world. He is still the master strategist of the caper and the man who puts the string together. And he has ten thousand rules that show more he follows!

“He was on our side in the Revolution,” Meehan said, “but he’s been against us ever since.” Again, sound familiar?

“Presidents do tend to forget that, even for presidents, there are lines that shouldn’t be crossed.”

“If I could tap into the subtext of fears and prejudices and prides and misunderstood history the way he can, only with a little more self- awareness, bring it out a little smoother, a little blander, I wouldn’t be a groundling in the CC, I’d be running for president myself.”

LOTS of things in here apply to the current POTUS, and this book was published in 2002! The story itself is just a bit of fun, with stretches of plain ol' running around. And I never did find out why it was titled what it was! show less

This is vintage Westlake and a bitter satire of government.
All of Westlake's characters have runs of bad luck and Franci (not Frank, thank you) Meehan is no exception.

Meehan is a non-violent career criminal who has just been incarcerated at the Manhattan Correctional Center awaiting sentencing on a federal charge (how was he to know the truck he was hijacking was carrying registered mail in addition to computer parts). He is approached by Jeffords, obviously a lawyer, who makes him a strange proposition. Jeffords whisks Meehan off to the Outer Banks in a corporate jet. The U.S. president's campaign committee needs a burglary performed, and they've learned a lesson from Watergate: If you need a successful burglary, hire a professional show more burglar. Amateurs, they are, they pick one in prison. They want Meehan to steal a very incriminating videotape from a supporter of the opposing party. All charges will be dropped if he can pull it off.

Meehan is no fool, however, hates to work with amateurs - that would violate one of the "ten-thousand rules" - and he works his own little sting in the midst of the large one. He enlists his own crew to lift the video from the estate of a wacko millionaire all the while trying to protect himself from incompetent but malicious forces (rent-a-thugs from the rival campaign and some errant Middle-Eastern types) who want the video for their own purposes.

In this humorous crime caper, Westlake is at his cynical and impudent best. show less

Excellent political satire by one of the excellent authors of tongue in cheek crime fiction. Reads like it could be ripped from contemporary (2020s) American political news.Still can't figure out the title meaning but a great nonstop read.

An interesting comic crime book with less comedic content and more realistic characters than much of Westlake's oeuvre. Interesting, multi-layered characters and some biting commentary on US politics. The plot is clever and full of twists, but the ending is preposterous. It seems like Westlake prioritized the political satire over believable plot near the end, since the characters do something that makes no sense but lets the author make a disparaging comment about politicians.

I can't quite put my finger on it, but for some reason, this is my least favorite book by Donald Westlake. I was glad when I got to the ending (which you could guess very early in the book).The main character seemed like a Dormunder knock-off, just not as likable. The whole book seemed like a short story stretched to novel link.

I've never read Westlake before, but he does know how to write a gripping tale.
I'll certainly be listening to more of him in future.