So long and thanks for all the laughs....

Get Real by Donald E. Westlake

Final book in the Dortmunder series

It was with great trepidation that I started reading this book. Donald E. Westlake passed away on New Years Eve, and when I heard the news I burst into tears thinking, no more Dortmunder! Then I read about this book coming out and while I was happy to at least have one more Dortmunder novel to read, my heart is heavy.

During a taxi ride - Murch's mom talks to a fare about her son and his friends who steal for a living. The fare, Doug Fairkeep, is a producer for reality-show company, Get Real, and is always looking for a new concept. He tracks down Murch who recruits Dortmunder for a heist /aka reality TV show. Kelp, Tiny and the Kid are brought in too as you have to have 5 guys to make a crew. Doug throws his own people into the mix by adding actors to the crew - Roger, fulltime actor who also can climb walls like Spiderman and Darlene - who was brought in from another reality show as a possible love interest. There is Marcy who "writes what is going to happen" and Babe - Doug's boss, who every time he comes on set says "I'm shutting this down!".

Naturally, the gang has to make this gig pay more than what's offered, as much for the fun of it as for the extra cash. While Get Real helps them map out a robbery, the boys are mapping out the real robbery—of some of the company's hidden assets. See Get Real is owned by Monopole that is owned by TUI and so on and so on. So the building that Get Real uses has other purposes that make Dortmunder nad the gang real curious. There is money somewhere in the building and they are going to get it. The thinking is that Get Real can hardly come after them to retrieve cash that it can't admit that it has. The game plan changes nearly hourly, and the outcome is anything but certain.

I laughed, I cried as I said "goodbye' to one of my favorite mystery writers and realy one of greatest writers of the 20th Century. There is no one like him.