The Hot Rock by Donald E. Westlake

The Hot Rock
by Donald E. Westlake
1970, Simon and Schuster

Thief Dortmunder and his crew make multiple attempts to steal an emerald for an African country. Dry to the point I wouldn't know this was supposed to be a comedy if I didn't know in advance. I was expecting it to be a bit broader with bumbling characters, but everyone is mostly competent, if occasionally mildly quirky, and the humor is supposed to come out of the repetition.

As with the Parker novels I've read, the actual heisting isn't the highlight as much as the business surrounding it, and for me the heisting sequences fell as flat as the humor. Which is a shame because I loved the humor in The Man with the Getaway Face.

Available from Amazon https://amzn.to/3zoQyNN