Cops and Robbers

Tom and Joe are New York City policemen. They are also planning a grand heist that should net them two million dollars. But they have to outwit the Mob to keep the money and their lives.

This book doesn’t include the kind of zany antics that Westlake is known for in his comic crime capers, but there’s plenty of action, quite a few surprises and plot twists, and a great sense of time and place. The “heroes” may be crooked cops, but they do have certain standards, and they are very smart about how they go about planning and executing the robbery. They anticipate many obstacles and are quick to compensate and adjust their plans for those things they did not think of in advance.

It was a fast read, and I enjoyed going along for the show more ride. show less

Donald Westlake was a national treasure. He wrote more than one hundred novels and I doubt if there is a dud among them. This one is a stand-alone and while not funny, I suspect you'll have a grin on your face at the end, as did I.

A man in a cop's uniform, pulls his gun and holds up a store. Days later he relates what he did to his partner. What follows is how to destroy $12,000,000 in bearer bonds, turning them into confetti, in order to make $2,000,000 in cash.

This was intriguing and suspenseful. Enjoy.

Two New York cops decide to change their status as underpaid civil servants by robbing the Mafia, which goes about as well as you might expect. A solid Westlake piece, if not as slapstick as some of his other crime novels.

What happens when two of NYC's finest decide to go from cops to robbers and then rip of one of the city's five families too boot?