Books

Get Real

Get Real
Pub date 1st January 2008
Original publisher Grand Central Publishing
Publisher (UK) Quercus

In Westlake's brilliantly bizarre and always amusing world, it's usually the thief who comes out on top. But times could be changing. When a TV producer convinces our roguish crook Dortmunder and his gang to star in a reality TV show that captures their next heist, being caught red-handed seems inevitable. It will take an ingenious plan to outwit viewers glued to their TV sets, but Dortmunder rises to the challenge. In this last crime novel from an undisputed master of the genre the well-worn phrase 'The eyes of the nation are upon you' takes on a whole new meaning - let's hope Dortmunder doesn't get stage-fright.

 

Praise for Get Real

 “The assorted idiosyncrasies of the group's members and the interactions among them will rouse chuckles from even jaded readers.”

- Publisher’s Weekly

 

To critics' delight, the gang is all here in Westlake's latest—and, sadly, last—comic caper … Part of Dortmunder's appeal is that he's not an evil genius but more of a criminal Everyman whose careful plans always seem to go hilariously awry. Get Real will have readers laughing out loud and searching through bookshelves for Westlake's prior works.”

- Bookmarks Magazine

 

 “After watching a bare-chested dentist trekking through the jungle by torchlight to shake a spear at a sunburned accountant in a loincloth, you might think television reality shows were beyond satire. But that would be underestimating the puckish wit of Donald E. Westlake … only Westlake seems capable of pulling it off with the perfect balance of technical ingenuity and high-dudgeon humour. The more strenuously outraged he becomes at some social or political absurdity, the more cutting his satiric wit.”

- Marylin Stasio, New York Times Sunday Book Review

“‘Get Real’ is the last John Dortmunder novel. Donald E. Westlake died on New Year's Eve 2008 while vacationing in Mexico. Our loss is enormous.

Good night, John.

Good night, Don.

Your last heist is a winner.” – Robert Crais, Los Angeles Times

Contact

Andrew Nurnberg Associates
43 Great Russell Street, WC1B 3PD, United Kingdom

Telephone:

+44 (020) 3327 0400