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Donald E. Westlake

Biography

Donald E. Westlake

Donald E. Westlake is widely regarded as one of the great crime writers of the 20th century, and by some enlightened souls (including those at Newsweek) as one of the great writers of the century, period. He won three Edgar Awards and was named a Grandmaster by the Mystery Writers of America. Many of his books have been made into movies; Westlake also wrote the screenplay for The Grifters, for which he received an Academy Award nomination.

Donald E. Westlake

Books by Donald E. Westlake

by Donald E. Westlake - Fiction, Romance, Romantic Suspense, Suspense, Thriller

In 1977, Donald E. Westlake turned his pen to suspense of a very different sort --- and the results have never been published…until now. A New York City taxi driver is hired to drive a beautiful woman all the way across America, from Manhattan to Los Angeles, where the biggest decision of her life is waiting to be made. From Pennsylvania to Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Arizona and Nevada on the way to California, the characters’ odyssey takes them through uncharted territory --- on the map and in their lives.

by Donald E. Westlake - Fiction, Humor, Suspense, Thriller

When four groups of international heist artists team up to pull off the theft of the century --- stealing an entire castle and the treasure hidden in its walls --- what could possibly go wrong? Well, consider this: None of the master thieves speak each other’s languages, no one knows precisely where the loot is stashed, and every one of them wants to steal it all for himself or herself. It’s MWA Grand Master Donald E. Westlake at his wildest, a breathless slapstick chase through the streets of Paris only one step ahead of the law --- and each other.

by Donald E. Westlake - Fiction, Hard-boiled Mystery, Mystery

DOUBLE FEATURE contains two classic Donald E. Westlake novellas, "A Travesty" and Ordo." In New York City, a movie critic has just murdered his girlfriend --- well, one of his girlfriends (not to be confused with his wife). Will the unlikely crime-solving partnership he forms with the investigating police detective keep him from the film noir ending he deserves? On the opposite coast, movie star Dawn Devayne --- the hottest It Girl in Hollywood --- gets a visit from a Navy sailor who says he knew her when she was just ordinary Estelle Anlic of San Diego. Now she's a big star who's put her past behind her. But secrets have a way of not staying buried.

by Donald E. Westlake - Fiction, Hard-boiled Mystery, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller

What will a group of monks do when their two-century-old monastery in New York City is threatened with demolition to make room for a new high-rise? Anything they have to. "Thou Shalt Not Steal" is only the first of the Commandments to be broken as the saintly face off against the unscrupulous over that most sacred of relics: a Park Avenue address. Returning to bookstores for the first time in three decades, BROTHERS KEEPERS offers not only a master class in comedy from one of the most beloved mystery writers of all time, but also a surprisingly heartfelt meditation on loss, temptation and how we treat our fellow man.

by Donald E. Westlake - Fiction, Hard-boiled Mystery, Mystery

Two decades ago, the producers of the James Bond movies hired legendary crime novelist Donald E. Westlake to come up with a story for the next Bond film. The plot Westlake dreamed up --- about a Western businessman seeking revenge after being kicked out of Hong Kong when the island was returned to Chinese rule --- had all the elements of a classic Bond adventure, but political concerns kept it from being made. Never one to let a good story go to waste, Westlake instead wrote an original novel based on the premise --- a novel he never published while he was alive. Now, nearly a decade after Westlake’s death, Hard Case Crime is proud to give that novel its first publication ever.

by Donald E. Westlake - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

It isn't easy going to jail for a practical joke. Of course, this particular joke left 20 cars wrecked on the highway and two politicians' careers in tatters --- so jail is where Harold landed. Now he's just trying to keep a low profile in the Big House. He wants no part of his fellow inmates' plan to use an escape tunnel to rob two banks. But it's too late; he's in it up to his neck. And that neck may just wind up in a noose.

by Donald E. Westlake - Fiction, Hard-boiled Mystery, Mystery

In Donald E. Westlake's final unpublished novel, the year is 1977, and an aging, legendary Hollywood comedian is kidnapped by a revolutionary cell desperately trying to reignite the 1960s. The tension builds as the comedian struggles to survive, but nothing in this noir tale is as simple as it seems.

by Donald E. Westlake - Fiction, Thriller

For 25 years, Burke Devore has provided for his family and played by the rules. Until now. Downsized from his job, Devore is slipping away: from his wife, his family, and from all civilized norms of behavior. He wants his life back, and will do anything to get it. In this relentlessly fascinating novel, the masterful Westlake takes readers on a journey of obsession and outrage inside a quiet man's desperate world.