The Hot Rock

The First Dortmunder Novel

By: Donald E. Westlake

Narrated by: Jeff Woodman

Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

John Dortmunder and company are hired by an U.N. African Ambassador to steal the famed Balabomo Emerald from the hands of a rival African country. But their daring and clever burglarly goes awry, and the emerald slips through their fingers. Undaunted, Dortmunder chases the gem by plane, train and automobile in hot pursuit of the hot rock.

Listen to another Dortmunder caper.

©1970 Donald E. Westlake (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Westlake's novel comes awesomely close to the ultimate in comic, big-caper novels; it's so filled with…action and imagination." ( New York Times Book Review)

"Westlake is a master hand at the running gag….This Westlake brought on such a case of the laughing bends that I required decompression." ( Washington Post)

All-Time Top 100 Mysteries (Mystery Writers of America)

The Hot Rock

I hope they make a movie out of this. It could be very funny with the right actors and a good script.
I didn't care much for the Narrator though

So glad to have a new recording of this classic!

The Hot Rock, for my money, remains one of Westlake's funniest books. The introduction to Dortmunder, his ne'er-do-well thief and caper organizer, still makes me laugh out loud frequently.

I began to listen to Jeff Woodman's new narration with hesitation. I had previously listened to (several times, years ago) Michael Kramer's 1998 recording from Books-on-Tape, and thought that it couldn't possibly be surpassed. But about an hour into the listen, I knew that Woodman was doing a masterful job. Chuckles continue to escape from me as I listen.

If you are looking for a good listen that will make you laugh, try this one out. It has become a classic for me!

Five Heists For the Price of One

I saw The Hot Rock when it first came out as a movie in 1972, when I was 15. My friends and I loved it, quoted it endlessly. It has since passed out of our collective cinematic memory, did so almost instantly in fact, in part due to Robert Redford's unhappiness with it (he kept it from being released on video for a long time). But when I saw it come up in a recent BOGO sale -- I didn't even know it was originally a book -- I thought I'd give it a try.

So it didn't keep me on the edge of my seat, since I knew how it was going to go, but I don't think it was written that way -- it's a comic caper in the 60s tradition with the twist being that the gang has to commit a series of heists to get their target -- the hot rock of the title. Each heist is pulled off perfectly, except that they don't get the emerald, and therefore have to go after it again.

And in addition to the plot, the characters are well drawn -- stereotypical petty thieves to begin with, but each with a personality quirk that broadens their character, often to comedic effect. Bottom line, it was a quick fun read (listen) that for me harked back to a long forgotten pop culture touchstone from my youth.

Jeff Woodman's voices are just OK. The best narrators find a voice or a series of voices that beat out what you could come up with in your imagination -- these voices are stereotypes, exactly what you would imagine. Maybe it's unfair for me to judge since in this particular case as the voices in my head sound a lot like Redford, George Segal, Zero Mostel & Co.

The Gang Who Couldn't Steal Straight

I haven’t laughed this often—or this loudly—at a Westlake story since Somebody Owes Me Money. Or maybe it was The Damsel. True, as with Parker and Grofield, Dortmunder is no one you’d want to have staying over at your place for a long weekend. And that goes double for his slightly-off-center gang of helpers. But in your earbuds they’re all more than welcome.

Jeff Woodman does it all more than justice. My only regret is that he isn't at the mic for every Dortmunder caper.

Just not good enough.

It was not bad, but it neither kept me wanting to come back to it, nor did it make me laugh. It was like a very pale imitation of Wodehouse with crime.

This rather ruined it for me [very minor spoilers]

It was a nice enough story, with nothing being taken too seriously, and the gang careful to avoid killing anyone. Under the unwritten code of thrillers, this allowed the story to have a happy ending.

But there was one thing that stretched credulity beyond the breaking point, and thereby diminished my enjoyment of the story. At one point, a member of the gang climbs into a helicopter. And NEVER HAVING FLOWN A HELICOPTER BEFORE, not only successfully flies it through the New York airspace, but puts it down gently on the roof of a building.

As a fixed-wing airplane pilot, and someone who's reasonably familiar with helicopters, I can definitively say that this is IMPOSSIBLE! Yes, the "pilot" is said to be very gifted at driving all sorts of vehicles, and he mentions that he had built a helicopter. But that is a VERY far cry from flying one.

Flying a helicopter is much more difficult than even flying a fixed-wing plane. And landing it anywhere, which requires a hover, let alone on the roof of a building, is probably the single hardest maneuver in aviation. The notion that someone who had never flown a helicopter could pull this off is totally absurd. It did put a damper on the story for me.

Dortmunder is on his game in this fun introduction

As usually happens when my favorite authors are having a dry spell, I start looking up new books to kill some time. And as usually happens, I find some fun story with great characters just to learn later it was part of a series. Back in '07 I was struggling to find something a bit more upbeat and found a book called The Road to Ruin (not listed as a series at the time) and fell in love with Dortmunder and his cast of flagrant friends.

Now that all Dortmunder books are available in audio, I decided to go back in time to 1970 and listen from the beginning. Being a technology buff and a lover of all things new and shiny, I was worried about getting into a book series that took place so long ago. This was not a problem at all and aside from some period moments, this book reads (well, listens) like it could have happened yesterday.

John Dortmunder is a non-violent criminal with particularly good expertise in planning impossible capers. The entire book surrounds an African tribe that wants their sacred stone stolen from a museum. The gang heists the rock just for it to be lost in a very odd place. To get the rock back, the team jumps into action yet again with another crazy scheme. The scheme works but the rock is still on the move to another location. Wash, rinse and repeat...

The book moves along at a swift pace, introduces a manageable cast of characters and gets some good laughs along the way. Some of my favorite parts of this book -- and is carried out in future books -- is how Dortmunder and the team work. You get to hear how they come up with their plans, their sometimes laugh-out-loud approaches to dealing with the people paying them and how well the team works together as a cohesive group. Dortmunder may be the main character in this book but he is not quite the leader, more of the coordinator and not everything he says gets done his way.

A great start to a fantastic series. I am looking forward to more!

LOL fun!!!

I haven't laughed out loud reading a book in a long time. I had read Bank Shot, the second in the Dortmunder series, long ago but had forgotten just how funny and talented a writer Donald Westlake was. I especially appreciated the conversations where the long suffering Dortmunder has to deal with his cronies taking all too literally what he is saying. I can just see Dortmunder shaking his head in disbelief at some of the responses he gets to simple queries. And when you thought the story should be over, there is nothing more to settle, things take a turn for the worse and the gang has to saddle up yet again. I will definitely complete the Dortmunder series and then explore other Westlake offerings.

A Witty, Rollicking Caper

Where does The Hot Rock rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

As good an experience as any.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Hot Rock?

From the scene on which the first chapter ends, with the protagonist raising his hands and screaming, I knew I was in good hands.

Have you listened to any of Jeff Woodman’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, but this was excellent.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

No, but there were several occasions at which I laughed aloud, which, considering I was next to my sleeping wife, is impressive.

Any additional comments?

Just delightful.

Okay

Seen the movie, so of course I was curious how the book differed. Not too different, but enough to make it interesting. Not a bad story, nothing that I would go out of my way to listen to again.