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Drowned Hopes

The Dortmunder Novels, Book 7

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Drowned Hopes

By: Donald E. Westlake
Narrated by: Justin Price
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About this listen

This rollicking tale of an aging robber who wants to blow up a reservoir "will keep readers laughing" (Publishers Weekly).

In his day, Tom was a hard man. He came up with Dillinger in the 1930s, and pulled a lot of high-profile jobs before the state put him away. They meant it to be for good, but after twenty-three years the prisons are too crowded for seventy-year-old bank robbers, and so they let the old man go. Finally free, he heads straight for John Dortmunder's house. Long ago, Tom buried $700,000, and now he needs help digging it up. While he was inside, the government dammed a nearby river, creating a reservoir and putting fifty feet of water on top of his money. He wants to blow the dam, drown the villagers, and move to Acapulco. If Dortmunder wants a clean conscience to go along with his share, he needs to find a nice way to get the money before Tom's nasty instincts get the best of both of them.

©1990 Donald E. Westlake (P)2024 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books Crime Fiction Literature & Fiction Mystery Money
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Even though this is a very long book in comparison to others by Westlake, it flies by as the story whizzes along. Dortmunder and Kelp are inept as usual. The story goes off in all directions and is a bit contrived so as to bring in Stan his mum and Tiny, as well as Wally the nerd. It also has a Parker style character in the guise of Tom/Tim

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