Synopses & Reviews
One of America's best-loved authors returns with a delightfully chilling new stand-alone in the vein of his bestsellers
The Ax and
The Hook.
Josh Redmont was 27 when the first check arrived, and he had absolutely no idea what it was for. Issued by "United States Agent" through an unnamed bank with an indeterminate address in D.C., someone seemed to think Josh was owed $1,000. One month later, another check arrived, and then another, and another...and Josh cashed them all. Month after month, year after year, never a peep from the IRS, never an explanation for all this seemingly found money; the checks even followed Josh from one address to another as he moved through life.
Now, after a full seven years, we find him on his way to meet the wife and kids for a summer vacation. Puzzled by the approach of a smiling stranger, Josh's stomach seizes with dread when the unwanted greeting begins with, "I am from United States Agent." Dumbstruck, Josh attempts to feign ignorance until he hears the words, "You are now active."
Review
"While Hollywood would have turned this set of unlikely circumstances into a clunky melodrama, Westlake shrewdly keeps the proceedings lighter than air....[The plot] sounds serious, but all the details are satiric and frequently funny." Richard Lipez, The Washington Post
Review
"Westlake has a special genius for mixing suspense with off-the-wall comedy. He's in good form again here....Great fun from one of the genre's grand masters." Bill Ott, Booklist
Review
"One of Westlake's many skills is to render the preposterous not only engaging but downright plausible." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Westlake creates a fascinating scenario, yet fails to fully develop Redmont and his fellow players. Some of the lesser characters are often more interesting than Redmont, who for all his charm and wit still comes across as a rather dull yuppie." Publishers Weekly
Review
"Although Westlake has written funnier books and his characters could use more dimension, Money for Nothing has all of his trademarks: an ample supply of silliness and suspense wrapped up in a wacky plot." Carol Peace Robins, The New York Times Book Review
Review
"Money for Nothing shows the versatile thriller master Westlake in medium-farce mode: perfect-pitch dialogue rendering a silly plot credible, plus a climax featuring a tall, naked woman escaping on a golf cart." Entertainment Weekly
Review
"The prolific, Edgar Award-winning Westlake...sketches an engaging tale with unexpected twists and turns and a dash of wit throughout. Highly recommended." Library Journal
Synopsis
Josh Redmont was 27 when the monthly checks for $1,000 started to arrive. It would be a full seven years later when a United States agent approaches him during summer vacation to collect on the investment.
Synopsis
When it comes to crime-the good, the bad, and the hilarious-nobody does it like Donald E. Westlake, the creator of the uproarious Dortmunder novels and the dark classic The Ax. Westlake's outrageous new thriller is all about something too good to be true...and too terrible to believe. Every month a $1000 check came to Josh Redmont, as regular as clockwork. Somewhere along the line, Josh stopped wondering why an untraceable organization in Washington was sending him money. His career took off and his bank account swelled-he didn't even need the money anymore. Then, one day on a ferry to Fire Island, a stranger approaches Josh with words that chill him to the spine: "You are now active." Josh has been paid for a job that he must do-a job that will turn out to be a growing horror for him, for his family, and possibly for the whole country...
About the Author
Donald E. Westlake, the winner of three Edgar Awards and a Mystery Writers of America Grand Master, lives with his wife in New York.