We all miss Donald Westlake, the creator of so many delightful books of which this is a fine example in the Dortmunder series. Dortmunder is a thief and con-man (he's been collecting deposits on encyclopedias when he runs into a little trouble). This time he's approached by his friend Kelp, who, with his his ex-FBI agent nephew, Victor, have the perfect bank robbery all lined up. It seems while a new branch bank building is being built, the bank has moved across the street to a mobile home. The bank usually doesn't worry about theft since cash is in the safe (damn those credit cards and checks) only Thursday nights and with seven guards and a sophisticated alarm system, what's to worry. Well you no doubt can guess their plan. It's to install wheels and drive off with the entire building. As is typical with Westlake caper books, just as things seem to be going right, they go off the rails. The ending is worthy of slapstick comedy; in fact, this could make a great movie. ("Could" being operative word. Apparently they tried with George C Scott and Joanna Cassidy, but it was a bomb.) . The charm of these books has less to do with plot than the conversations and interplay between the characters, not to mention sarcastic portrayals of certain professions, mundane examples of how we move through life.
