Cops and Robbers (1972)

by Donald E. Westlake

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184	4	148,801	(3.93)	5
The Grand Master of Mystery delivers "nerve-end-entertainment" when two of New York's finest set out to become two of New York's richest (Kirkus Reviews). Tom and Joe have been walking the beat on the mean streets of the Big Apple longer than they can remember--or care to. They've been good cops, protecting the public and holding the line against crime and chaos in a city that has plenty of both. And all they have to show for it is a whole lot of nothing. But now the partners have devised a scheme to make all their dreams come true: the perfect heist. Tom and Joe are going to rob the fat cats on Wall Street for millions and walk away clean. With the right connections and the proper execution, there's no way their plan can fail. And that's why they're so surprised when everything goes totally, hysterically wrong . . . With Cops and Robbers, the three-time Edgar Award-winning author, named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America, offers "another very hot and successful" novel with "a siren shrill finale" (Kirkus Reviews). Praise for Donald E. Westlake "Westlake has no peer in the realm of comic mystery novelists." --San Francisco Chronicle "No writer can excel Donald E. Westlake." --Los Angeles Times … (more)

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Showing 4 of 4

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. (

)

ecw0647 | Mar 31, 2020 |

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. (

)

smichaelwilson | Oct 16, 2019 |

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 ride. (

)

BookConcierge | Jun 16, 2017 |

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? (

)

Smiley | Feb 23, 2006 |

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Delfinserien (627)

Scrittori italiani e stranieri [Mondadori]

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Por que yo? ; PolicIas y ladrones by Donald E. Westlake

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Cops and Robbers

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1972

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Cops and Robbers (1973 | IMDb)

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I left the car on Amsterdam Avenue and walked around the corner onto West 72nd Street.

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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

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Blurbers

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The Grand Master of Mystery delivers "nerve-end-entertainment" when two of New York's finest set out to become two of New York's richest (Kirkus Reviews). Tom and Joe have been walking the beat on the mean streets of the Big Apple longer than they can remember--or care to. They've been good cops, protecting the public and holding the line against crime and chaos in a city that has plenty of both. And all they have to show for it is a whole lot of nothing. But now the partners have devised a scheme to make all their dreams come true: the perfect heist. Tom and Joe are going to rob the fat cats on Wall Street for millions and walk away clean. With the right connections and the proper execution, there's no way their plan can fail. And that's why they're so surprised when everything goes totally, hysterically wrong . . . With Cops and Robbers, the three-time Edgar Award-winning author, named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America, offers "another very hot and successful" novel with "a siren shrill finale" (Kirkus Reviews). Praise for Donald E. Westlake "Westlake has no peer in the realm of comic mystery novelists." --San Francisco Chronicle "No writer can excel Donald E. Westlake." --Los Angeles Times

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(from the book jacket) Tom Garrity and Joe Loomis are cops in New York - commuters to a job in a city where people often feel like animals. As cops, they're at the center of it. The brutalizers and the brutalized. Unable to take much more of it, they invent a romantic dream for getting the hell out. The cops decide to become robbers.

Joe discovers that a blue uniform will get you in anywhere: allow you, for instance, to hold up a liquor store without even being suspected. He and Tom decide to pull one big caper that will net them each a million. Then they'll wait around a year, and after that pull out for good. They offer their services to the Mafia, because on their own they don't know what crime to commit for that kind of money. A mafia boss named Vigano points them in the right direction. After that there is no turning back, and no guarantee that they'll make it.

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