The Hot Rock.

WESTLAKE, Donald E.

Item Number: 117443

New York: Simon and Schuster, 1970.

First edition of this classic crime caper “filled with action and imagination” (The New York Times Book Review). Octavo, original half cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, “To Ron- Donald E. Westlake.” Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Larry Ratzkin.

John Dortmunder leaves jail with ten dollars, a train ticket, and nothing to make money on but his good name. Thankfully, his reputation goes far. No one plans a caper better than Dortmunder. His friend Kelp picks him up in a stolen Cadillac and drives him away from Sing-Sing, telling a story of a $500,000 emerald that they just have to steal. Dortmunder doesn’t hesitate to agree. The emerald is the crown jewel of a former British colony, lately granted independence and split into two nations: one for the Talabwo people, one for the Akinzi. The Akinzi have the stone, the Talabwo want it back, and their UN representative offers a fine payday to the men who can get it. It’s not a simple heist, but after a few years in stir, Dortmunder could use the challenge. It was basis for the 1972 film starring Robert Redford, George Segal, Ron Leibman, Paul Sand, Moses Gunn and Zero Mostel.