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The Comedy Is Finished (2012)

by Donald E. Westlake(Favorite Author)

3.54 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0857684086 (ISBN13: 9780857684080)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Hard Case Crime

series

Hard Case Crime

review 1: I have not read a lot of Westlake's books since I started tracking my reading. I have listened to most of his Dortmunder series which is always fun. This is a very different book. The Westlake humor is there, but this is a much darker tale.It is the end of the 1970's and the revolution not only has not be televised, it has basically failed. However, there are always a few people who persist in their belief that their cause is worthy. This novel is about five people who want the revolution to succeed.I don't want to give away the whole story. Westlake has put together a story that keeps his readers turning the pages. His characters, from the revolutionaries, through the FBI and police and the victims are all real. They are not stick figures or stereotypes. I listen... moreed to the audio. The reader was good and he told the story well. I recommend the book to readers who want to see another side of Donald Westlake, those who like the Hard Crime books (this is one of them, number 105) and to fans of hard crime books, not cosies.
review 2: Written and then set aside by the author in 1977 this novel is just lately available to the public. It doesn't feature any of Westlake's running characters, it's a one off story of the kidnapping of comedian Koo Davis by an SLA-like gang of revolutionaries who hope to trade him for the release of ten "political prisoners" and to revitalize their movement. Of course, plans have a way of unraveling and Westlake is good at illustrating the dynamics among the members of the group as well as those of the FBI and police trying to catch them. Even though this book was written 35 years ago, it doesn't feel too dated (unlike say, Ross Thomas' "The Backup Men" which dates from the same period). Worth spending a weekend with. less

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