Tempted to find a highly valuable, seven-hundred-pound chess set, hapless crook John Dortmunder musters his merry band of fellow ne'er-do-wells on a haphazard treasure hunt that prompts his investigation of Russia's last czar.

In Donald E. Westlake's Get Real, the bad get better, the good slide a bit, and Lord help anyone caught between a thief and the current object of his attention: laughs "land on every page" (New York Times).

Getting caught red-handed is inevitable when a TV producer convinces a thief named John Dortmunder — and his merry gang — to do a reality show that captures their next score. The producer guarantees...

"Francis Xavier Meehan (Meehan to his friends, "Halt!" to the cops) has ten thousand rules to live by, but only one way to make a living: stealing. Then a man in a checked jacket from Washington comes to meet Meehan in the Manhattan Correctional Center with an offer Meehan cannot refuse.". "For somewhere out there is an October Surprise that may dethrone the sitting president of the United States. The Washington man wants Meehan to steal the incriminating...

On Long Island, a media tycoon catches a burglar in his house and relieves him of a nice-looking ring. The novel describes the comic adventures as the burglar, John Dortmunder, stalks the tycoon to recuperate his property. By the author of Don't Ask.

"Collection of published and unpublished gems: a memoir about learning to write, an imaginary interview between Westlake's various identities, essays on writing, introductions, and letters to writers like Stephen King and Brian Garfield. A true miscellany, this includes a piece by Abigail Westlake, a recipe for "May's Famous Tuna Casserole" and a 'Midnight snack'."--From the publisher.

Burke Devore, a victim of downsizing after twenty-five years with Halcyon Mills, is driven to unbelievable extremes in his attempts to secure another job.

Sara Joslyn is fresh from journalism school and ready to take on the world. Unfortunately, she has to settle for the galaxy-the Weekly Galaxy, to be precise, the sensational gossip rag where no low is too low, and no story is too outlandish to print. From finding a dead body in a car before she even finds her desk to making her bones by interviewing a pair of one-hundred-year-old twins (never mind that one of them is dead) and jockeying for brownie...

The Hot Rock introduces John Archibald Dortmunder, the thief whose capers never quite come off, as he and his convict friends plot to steal the fabulous Balaboma Emerald.

Seven years after he begins receiving mysterious checks that follow him as he moves through life, Josh Redmont, en route to a summer vacation, is approached by a stranger with information about Josh's identity.

"Jailed for a joke. It isn't easy going to jail for a practical joke. Of course, this practical joke left 20 cars wrecked on the highway and two politicians' careeers in tatters - so jail is where Harold K�nt 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...