Get Real: a review

Get Real is the last book written by the late Donald E. Westlake, and the first of his novels I have read. I don't know where I've been hiding that I've never read anything by this prolific author. Mr. Westlake passed away in 2008, and Get Real is scheduled for a psthumous July 2009 release. This particular novel is part of a series of books about John Dortmunder, a professional thief, and his buddies with their various expertise. The concept behindGet Realis absolutely hilarious! Through a convoluted connection to the getaway driver's mom, the gang is hooked up with a reality TV producer, who wants to film them preparing and executing their next caper. These old-school guys know little about reality TV, the internet, or television production in general, and are dubious about the offer. But $20,000 each, plus a per diem while taping sounds pretty good, so they sign on, with several conditions of course. How can you pull off a crime on film and not go to jail? Don't film anyone's face, of course, and use aliases. But for the audience to be entertained, there need to be some faces, so bring in a couple actors as secondary characters. Can't film in the actual bar where deals go down? Build a replica set. I found the un-reality of the reality production very funny, as well as the stories about others shows currently in production with Get Real. One of the things I really liked about Get Real was that although it was about somewhat rough guys, there was very little strong language and no sex. They were just 5 guys working together on a job, like any other group of long-time coworkers. I am glad to have "discovered" Donald Westlake's books and will be reading more of them in the future. I am also passing Get Real on to my nephews, now that they are reading "adult" books.