Watch Your Back!

A Dortmunder Novel

By: Donald E. Westlake

Narrated by: William Dufris

Hapless criminal John Dortmunder returns in another rollicking tale of disorganized crime from Grand Master of Mystery Donald E. Westlake.

It's the score of a lifetime: easy access to a lavish New York City apartment, hordes of valuables, and an absentee owner avoiding the lawyers of his unhappy ex-wives. But before they pull the job, Dortmunder's crew is startled to find their beloved gin joint, the OJ, in the clutches of the Mafia - who consider it perfect for a little fraud, courtesy of a nice big fire. For tactical and highly superstitious reasons, the fate of the OJ is even more important to the crew than the enormous score.

Now, Dortmunder and his gang are determined to split their time, fighting the mob, and robbing the rich simultaneously.

©2005 Donald E. Westlake (P)2008 BBC Audiobooks

Not Great

What did you like best about Watch Your Back!? What did you like least?

The story just didn't come together. I think I hear the whole book three or four times trying to figure out what I wasn't getting out of the story or reading. Too, Too much dialogue that didn't always make much sense.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Well, what else would we expect?????

What three words best describe William Dufris’s performance?

Just so, so

Do you think Watch Your Back! needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

If the first didn't much make sense, how will a part 2 make sense.

Dortmunder is Fun

I think I have listened to all of the Dortmunder novels. (Unfortunately, they aren't available on Audible!). The Dortmunder character is a hoot. If you enjoy dry sarcasm, you'll like Dortmunder. This was not the best Dortmunder that I've read, but it was still fun.

Great story

Dufris is excellent. The story is fun. Moves along well. Couple laugh out loud moments. Mostly smiled the whole time listening to their capers.

Watch Your Back!--Outstanding & Outlandish

Donald E. Westlake was a gem! He created this excellent series with his criminal anti-hero, John Dortmunder. Meet John and his felonious friends! This is where the voice of William Dufris meets the pen of Mr. Westlake. It's trite of me to say, 'the rest is hilarious! ( you thought History?). I would highly recommend this outstanding book and the reading of same!

Westlake is one of my favorite writers

Watch Your Back was not my favorite of this series of books. It was still worth reading.

Lots of fun

Several strands with interesting and likable characters that come together - but could have kept my interest for another 8 hours. Westlake rarely misses!

Arnie's revenge???

It makes me sad that Donald Westlake is no longer with us so that he could keep providing us with Dortmunder hilarious capers. I thoroughly enjoyed this one. All the usual suspects are here plus the outrageous Arnie Albright., doing his best not to offend anyone. The narrator, William Dufris, does an outstanding job. My only disappointment is that it is over. Recommended for anyone who loves to laugh and enjoys adventures with fun, human characters. Enjoy!

Dortmunder Returns

John D. is back with all the usual suspects. Although not Westlake's best book ...he always manages to keep my interest with enough smiles & suspense to make the story worthwhile. Given the number of characters, Dufris does a fine job of narrating the book.

One success, one failure!

John Dortmunder, an experienced thief, gets a call from an old friend Arnie Albright whom no one likes. Arnie has a proposition for Dortmunder. So he calls Andy to go with him to Arnie’s apartment. While Arnie was at Club Med he met Preston Fairweather, a rich, egotistical venture capitalist who liked to talk too much. Preston’s luxury apartment in East Manhattan was the proposition. In the meantime, the OJ Bar & Grill was in serious trouble and Dortmunder didn’t like it. He figured there must be a way to save the OJ. Um, not one of my favorite Dortmunder adventures. Three.point.five.

Meandering

Wanders around without plot. To many characters without purpose or conclusion Left wondering why did i listen to this.