What will a group of monks do when their century-old monastery in New York City is threatened with demolition to make room for a new high-rise? What will a group of monks do when their two-century-old monastery in New York City is threatened with demolition to make room for a new high-rise? Anything they have to. "Thou Shalt Not Steal" is only the first of the Commandments to be broken as the saintly face off against the unscrupulous over that most sacred of relics, a Park Avenue address.Returning to bookstores for the first time in three decades, BROTHERS KEEPERS offers not only a master class in comedy from one of the most beloved mystery writers of all time but also a surprisingly heartfelt meditation on loss, temptation, and how we treat our fellow man.

Fred Fitch is a man who is both pure of heart and substance but utterly credulous. If there is a scam operating anywhere—his rooming house where the General needs a loan to print his revelation of the secret history of the government, the street where the Little Sisters of the Poor are raising funds for the homeless, or just about anywhere in between—Fred finds it or it finds Fred to the same uncertain end.Fred even has his own contact, Reilly, on the Bunco Squad at Headquarters, who adds weekly to the enormous file. But Fred's complicated life becomes overly complicated when a lawyer turns up on the scene to tell him that his late Uncle Matt has willed him $300,000. Fred has never before heard of Uncle Matt. Along with the inheritance comes the devoted Gertie Divine, Uncle Matt's old friend who is all too willing to become Fred's new friend, and a host of other mysterious characters who are willing to chum up with Fred in their bid for the $300,000, all of whom fee...

THE MOVIE STAR AND THE MOVIE CRITIC — HOW FAR WOULD THEY GO TO KEEP THEIR SECRETS BURIED? DOUBLE FEATURE Contains two CLASSIC Donald E. Westlake novellas, A Travesty and Ordo.WHAT'S HIDDEN BEHIND THE SILVER SCREEN?In New York City, a movie critic has just murdered his girlfriend - well, one of his girlfriends (not to be confused with his wife). Will the unlikely crime-solving partnership he forms with the investigating police detective keep him from the film noir ending he deserves?On the opposite coast, movie star Dawn Devayne - the hottest It Girl in Hollywood - gets a visit from a Navy sailor who says he knew her when she was just ordinary Estelle Anlic of San Diego. Now she's a big star who's put her past behind her. But secrets have a way of not staying buried...These two short novels, one hilarious and one heartbreaking, are two of the best works Westlake ever wrote. And fittingly,...

"I saw it!" He was obviously at his wit's end. "It's unbelievable," said Ebor. "I know," said Darquelnoy. He led the way into his quarters, motioned Ebor to a perch, and rang for his orderly. "It was just a little remote-controlled apparatus, of course," he said. "The fledgling attempt, you know. But it circled this Moon here, busily taking pictures, and went right back to the planet again, giving us all a terrible fright. There hadn't been the slightest indication they were planning anything that spectacular." "None?" asked Ebor. "Not a hint?"

    A deposed South American dictator has hidden his entire fortune of cash, stocks and jewellery inside twelve stones of a castle. A fiery revolutionary and a British master criminal are both after the fortune but neither knows which stones contains the valuables.

JAILED FOR A JOKE It isn't easy going to jail for being a practical joker. Of course, this particular joke left 20 cars wrecked on the highway and two politicians' careers in tatters - so jail is where Harold Künt 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 noose... HELP I AM BEING HELD PRISONER is Donald E. Westlake at his funniest and his most ingenious, a rediscovered crime classic from the MWA Grand Master returning to stores for the first time in three decades.

A disgraced ex-cop takes a job from a bereaved, gentlemanly mobsterSix months ago, Mitchell Tobin lost his career—and with it, his identity. An honest cop drummed out of the force because of one terrible mistake, Tobin has spent six months watching his savings dwindle and his family fall apart. But no matter how badly he needs work, he doesn't want anything to do with Ernie Rembeck, a crime boss whose mistress has just turned up dead. The killer can only be someone inside the organization, and Rembeck wants him identified. Tobin agrees, under assurances that nothing illegal will be asked of him, but he soon finds that without a badge, right and wrong are nothing but words. Mitch Tobin is about to take on every heavy in the New York mob scene. He's finally found a purpose, but his safety is in serious jeopardy.

Featuring Westlake's hapless hero John Dortmunder, this original compilation of short stories ties in to the author's latest Dortmunder hardcover, "The Road to Ruin."From BooklistAll the usual Westlake suspects are back in another fine mess, or in this case in a delightful collection of 11 Dortmunder stories. The swift succession of heists, getaways, scrapes, and screwups gathered in Thieves' Dozen epitomizes the venal joys of the comic caper. Each gambit is filled with engaging twists, such as when the gang tunnels into a bank vault only to find it packed with hostages from an armed robbery already in progress, or when they start a stampede while attempting to boost a stud racehorse. Then there's the deceptively simple challenge of getting across town with a ham sandwich in which is secreted a stolen emerald brooch, or the synchronized scrapes of crooks converging on a bashed-in bank in "Fugue for Felons." The short-story form is well suited to Westlake's sly shenanigans, and he even finds room for snippets of the Runyonesque repartee that gives this inspired nonsense just the right touch of absurd panache. These stories are real jewels--an excellent introduction to Dortmunder for a wide range of comic crime and mystery readers. David WrightCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reservedAbout the AuthorDONALD E. WESTLAKE has written numerous novels over the past thirty-five years under his own name and pseudonyms, including Richard Stark. Many of his books have been made into movies, including The Hunter, which became the brilliant film noir Point Blank, and the 1999 smash hit Payback. He penned the Hollywood scripts for The Stepfather and The Grifters, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Screenplay. The winner of three Edgar awards and a Mystery Writers of America Grand Master, Donald E. Westlake was presented with The Eye, the Private Eye Writers of America's Lifetime Achievement Award, at the Shamus Awards. He lives with his wife, Abby Adams, in rural New York State.

On a literary landscape filled with cunning criminal masterminds, Donald E. Westlake's John Dortmunder is in a league of his own. With no scam too outrageous to contemplate, and no plan too simple to go wrong, this quirky career thief has stolen everything from money buried under a reservoir to a bank-the whole bank. Now the ultimate repeat offender returns in a first-time collection of short stories that prove that just like bagels and donuts, with Dortmunder it's always better by the dozen … Thieves' Dozen .

In his classic caper novels, Donald E. Westlake turns the world of crime and criminals upside down. The bad get better, the good slide a bit, and Lord help anyone caught between a thief named John Dortmunder and the current object of his intentions. Now Westlake's seasoned but often scoreless crook must take on an impossible crime, one he doesn't want and doesn't believe in. But a little blackmail goes a long way in… WHAT'S SO FUNNY? All it takes is a few underhanded moves by a tough ex-cop named Eppick to pull Dortmunder into a game he never wanted to play. With no choice, he musters his always-game gang and they set out on a perilous treasure hunt for a long-lost gold and jewel-studded chess set once intended as a birthday gift for the last Romanov czar, which unfortunately reached Russia after that party was over. From the moment Dortmunder reaches for his first pawn, he faces insurmountable odds. The purloined past of this precious set is destined to confound any strategy he finds on the board. Success is not inevitable with John Dortmunder leading the attack, but he's nothing if not persistent, and some gambit or other might just stumble into a winning move.