Castle in the Air

by Donald E. Westlake

In the funniest crime caper ever from Grandmaster Donald Westlake, four teams of international thieves race through Paris to steal a king's ransom from the walls of a disassembled castle.

When four groups of international heist artists team up to pull off the theft of the century - stealing an entire castle, and the treasure secreted in its walls - what could possibly go wrong? Well, consider this: none of the master thieves speak each other's languages...and no one knows precisely where the loot is stashed...and every one of them wants to steal it all for him or herself. It's Westlake at his wildest, a breathless slapstick chase through the streets of France with the law in hot pursuit...

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Fiction, Humor, Thriller, Noir, Adventure

177 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Donald E. Westlake (1933-2008) was one of the most prolific and talented authors of American crime fiction. He began his career in the late 1950's, churning out novels for pulp houses—often writing as many as four novels a year under various pseudonyms such as Richard Stark—but soon began publishing under his own name. His most well-known characters were John Dortmunder, an unlucky thief, and Parker, a ruthless criminal. His writing earned him three Edgar Awards: the 1968 Best Novel award for God Save the Mark; the 1990 Best Short Story award for "Too Many Crooks"; and the 1991 Best Motion Picture Screenplay award for The Grifters. In addition, Westlake also earned a Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America in 1993.

Westlake's cinematic prose and brisk dialogue made his novels attractive to Hollywood, and several motion pictures were made from his books, with stars such as Lee Marvin and Mel Gibson. Westlake wrote several screenplays himself, receiving an Academy Award nomination for his adaptation of The Grifters, Jim Thompson's noir classic.

Some of the pseudonyms he used include
•   Richard Stark
•   Timothy J. Culver
•   Tucker Coe
•   Curt Clark
•   J. Morgan Cunningham
•   Judson Jack Carmichael
•   D.E. Westlake
•   Donald I. Vestlejk
•   Don Westlake

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let's Carjack a Castle

Westlake's "Castle in the Air," now being republished after four decades, is one of his wacky comedic crime caper stories which stand in sharp contrast to his hard-edged Parker novels. This one seems like it was originally thought of as a movie treatment.

The idea is that the President of a fictional third-world republic is losing his grip on the country and has secreted enormous wealth in the flagstones of a castle. The castle is being taken apart piece by piece and shipped to Paris as part of a World's Fair type exhibition. In Paris, the devious el presidente and his wife are going to slowly tap into the hidden fortune in jewels. But, others from the little third world country have gotten wind of the operation and are going to intercept the stones and have engaged a crack team of thieves to do the job.

Onward we go to small teams of crooks from Britain, Germany, and Italy, all speaking different languages and out to execute this devious plan to swipe a castle and make a fortune, the actual execution of which seems akin to the more recent movie, The Italian Job, but with a wacky cast of goofy stars in it.

Overall, a mildly entertaining short novel that shows off Westlake's comedic touch.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up

Castle in the Air is a crime caper by Donald Westlake. When the ruler of Yerbadoro starts stockpiling his wealth in the stones of a castle that is bring shipped to Paris for an exhibition, a revolutionary gets word of this, and a plan is hatched where teams of international thieves will attempt to work together to steal the castle and its hidden riches as each piece arrives in Paris.

This was a decent read that seems like it was written for the big screen. It was decent, but I think this would have been better suited for the screen. I didn't really connect or like any of the characters. There were some funny moments and a fair amount of action to keep the story going at a fast clip. If you're a fan of crime capers, or a serious Hard Case Crime fan, this is for you.

Thank you to Hard Case Crime for gifting me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

[Alan (on December semi-hiatus) Teder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Heist Capers
Review of the Hard Case Crime paperback edition (2021) of the M. Evans hardcover original (1980)

I've run out of the Donald Westlake/Richard Stark Parker series of hardboiled noir novels but wanted to follow-up by reading several of the other books which established the prolific crime author's reputation. Castle in the Air is light fare and involves a multi-international team of heisters seeking to locate the loot of a (fictional) South American dictator who is smuggling it into Europe by having it hidden inside the stone wall bricks of a dismantled castle which is to be re-assembled as a world exhibition pavilion.

Each of the teams are from separate countries (England, France, Germany, Italy) and initially are working in league with a master planner who is cooperating with a freedom fighter to return at least a share of the loot to the beleaguered country. Comic antics ensue as each team attempts to heist the entire haul for themselves with predictable karmic results.

Other Reviews
There is an extremely detailed review and plot summary (with spoilers obviously) of Castle in the Air at The Westlake Review, December 22, 2015.

Trivia and Links
This edition of Castle in the Air is part of the Hard Case Crime (2004-) series of reprints, new commissions and posthumous publications of the pulp and noir crime genre founded by authors Charles Ardai and Max Phillips. GR's Listopia is not complete (as of August 2021) and the most complete lists of publication can be found at Wikipedia or the Publisher's Official Site.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another rediscovered Westlake gem from Hard Case Crime. An international caper book set in Paris. Think The Italian Job or McGivern's Caper of the Golden Bulls only funnier. Four teams work together to pull off the heist of an entire castle that's being moved to, and rebuilt in, Paris. One team is British, the other teams are French, German and Italian.

The problem is that none of the these criminal masterminds, with but one exception, speaks another language other than his own, nor do any of them trust the others, not even their own countrymen.

Hilarity ensues.

[Bookreporter.com Mystery & Thriller · Rating 5 out of 5]

A little backstory is appropriate for Donald E. Westlake’s CASTLE IN THE AIR. It was originally published in hardcover in 1980, released in paperback the following year, and quickly vanished. Westlake was quite prolific, and the market could consume anything and everything he was writing in those halcyon days of publishing. The now veritable and always indispensable Hard Case Crime imprint has resurrected the book in fine fashion. While it is not Westlake’s best work (or his worst, for that matter), this fast-moving, relatively short caper novel is worth your time, attention and money.

Eustace Dench, who is described in the book’s first sentence as a master criminal, is the prime motivator of the piece, though the narrative by no means is limited to him. Dench learns that Escobar Lynch, the president of the (fictitious) country of Yerbadoro, has plans to move a castle --- or at least a portion of it --- to Paris. That is all well and good, but Lynch also intends to plunder his country by hiding a fortune in jewels and the like in the blocks of the castle that will be reassembled once they reach their destination. Dench learns of this plan from the lovely and comely Lida, a Yerbadoran revolutionary.

Lida wants the treasure to finance the revolution, and Dench has a way of getting it, though not necessarily for her. He quickly assembles a team of thieves from across Europe to pry the treasure from Lynch. Dench has some great ideas, but he doesn’t always think things all the way through. While each member of his team possesses a particular expertise, there are a number of language barriers built in the mix --- the Italians don’t speak French, who don’t speak German, and none of them seem to speak English. This makes communication and coordination during the heist difficult, to say the least.

However, the major complication is the personality flaw shared by all the participants in Dench’s plan: greed. There is no honor among thieves here. They are ready and willing to perform their respective parts that Dench has assigned, but they also are committed to absconding with the treasure at the first opportunity. Even the internal sub-alliances formed during the heist are not immune to their greed, and the team quickly learns that no one can be trusted. This creates a number of vignettes that are interesting yet predictable, but there is always a twist or two in the conclusion of each. The story wraps up pretty much the way one might expect, though there is a surprise secondary ending that is as clever as it is amusing.

CASTLE IN THE AIR will be of interest primarily to Westlake completists who are either part of a new generation of readers who are unaware of him or were not on this earth when the book initially released, or to those who loyally collect the Hard Case Crime books as they are published. It should be noted, though, that Westlake’s cinematic narrative ability is on full display here. The novel may never be adapted as a movie, but it wouldn’t be necessary anyway. One plays in your head as you read his fine prose, which incidentally references his best-known character in a couple of different ways. It is a fun reading ride for everyone.

Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

[Kevidently · Rating 4 out of 5]

It honestly should not have taken me this long to finish a caper novel. It's not the book's fault, and it's not Donald Westlake's fault. If anything, you could kind of blame the world opening back up, and the fact that my own novel has decided to capture my life again. You see, my friends Tracey and Liz are doing this thing where they wake up at 5:30 AM every day and work on writing and the idea was so alluring that I started doing just that. The problem is, the morning time with my coffee used to be when I would read physical books and not let any of the outside world distract me. The pandemic was great for a lack of distraction. It's all back now, and it's why it took me nearly a month to finish a book that should have taken me two days.

Here are two things to know about Castle in the Air: 1. When the front cover says, "First publication in 40 years," that means 1980. That means this book is a classic crime novel, and that classic crime novels were coming out in my lifetime. It means I'm old, and so is the rest of the GenX and geriatric millenial crime-come-latelies who are discovering Westlake and Hard Case Crime just now.

2. This book is hilarious. It's hilarious. And I didn't expect that, because even though Westlake is known for his funny crime novels, especially the Dortmunder stuff, I have never read any of it. I've read the novels he wrote under his Richard Stark name, which are also heist novels, but they tend to involve a lot of murder. I've also read Memory, which is stunningly good but extremely serious, and his two dark thrillers, The Ax and The Hook. All fantastic. Very few chuckles.

So when I'm in the first few pages of this book, which involves an extremely convoluted plan to steal an ACTUAL CASTLE, and I'm laughing a little reluctantly because ... wait is this funny? And then I realize it's a caper set in Europe, and there are factions of Italian, Spanish, British, and German people working together, none of whom speak each others' language, and that there are double- and triple- and quadruple-crosses afoot. And there's an entire who's-on-first chapter where Westlake is reveling in language and its flexibility and okay. Okay. I know what's happening now. And it's good. Like, really good.

You got me again, Westlake! But maybe I should read The Ax again next...

[Tony Gleeson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't give this three-and-a-half, which is how I would rate it, so I'm giving Westlake the benefit of the doubt and raising him to a four here. This is one of his earlier "caper" books, when his literary facility and smoothness was perhaps not as great as it would become but his madcap imagination was at fuller vent than he would later allow it. Published not long after his classic "Dancing Aztecs," this one follows the tale of a band of international bandits and con artists, handicapped by incredibly complicated language barriers, as they attempt to steal an entire castle. Said castle is being shipped from a (fictitious) South American nation to Paris by the country's dictator, as a ruse to smuggle out his fortune in the blocks of the castle. Westlake finds twist after twist to confound and confuse the characters and the reader, and not incidentally to provoke lots of laughs. The frenetic slapstick action reminds one of scenes from "It's a Mad Mad Mad World." The plot climaxes in a mad chase around the canals and roads of Paris, with a huge stack of stone blocks changing hands every few pages. There are plotholes galore and a few awkward paragraphs--but I for one didn't care. Not Westlake's best ever (that might well be "Dancing Aztecs") but a book that will warm the heart of any died-in-the-wool Westlakean such as myself.

[Neil Fulwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

If Alistair MacLean had bumped into P.G. Wodehouse in Paris, they’d both got thoroughly drunk and then gone back to MacLean’s hotel room and spent the next twenty-four hours smoking wacky baccy and discussing their favourite heist movies, this is the novel they would have written.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a wild ride, kind of a screwball heist comedy. The setup is terrific: A criminal mastermind brings together three-member teams of criminals from four different countries to pull off a huge theft in Paris. The conception of the heist is absurd, yet temptingly lucrative. And the venture is complicated by the fact that none of the team members—from England, France, Germany, and Italy—speak the others' languages.

This would make a great movie. So much of the humor is visual that a movie version would probably be better than the book. If the Marx Brothers were still with us, I could see them (with a little cinematic legerdemain) playing all four criminal teams. Maybe there will be a movie adaptation at some point, but in the meantime, read the book. It's fun.

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

Light, comic heist novel that might have worked better as a movie. I feel that much of the humor (especially in the second half, which has a great deal of action) would have been conveyed better in a visual medium.

[Christopher Law · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably the weakest Donald Westlake novel that I have read. It reads like a film script for a bad caper movie.

[Joe Tobin · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's probably better than I'm rating it, but it just didn't grab me.

[Jiří Pavlovský · Rating 4 out of 5]

Westlake je autor, ze kterého má člověk komplexy. Je už pár let po srmti a stále mu vycházejí ročně tak dvě, tři nové knihy. Dobře, něco už kdysi vyšlo, ale obvykle tak před čtyřiceti lety a je to dávno zapomenuté. Což je někdy dost škoda.
A tohle je ten případ. Castle in the Air je to, co by se asi nejlíp dalo nazvat ryzím slapstickem. Dortmunderovka bez Dortmudera, monumentální loupež, rychlá komediální jízda, která působí, že byla načrtnutá pro potřeby filmu.
Diktátor malé evropské země má na kahánku, takže se rozhodne uprchnout i se svým pokladem. Jenže je pod dohledem, takže využije světové výstavy v Paříži, aby tam předvedl/přestěhoval svůj hrad... a v něm schované cennosti. Jenže se to samozřejmě proflákne a skupina lupičů, složená z profíků celého světa (Německa, Itálie, Francie, Anglie) se rozhodne pokladu zmocnit. Má to ovšem dva zásadní problémy: Protože tak nějak netuší, kde přesně ty cennosti jsou, je nutné ukrást celý hrad... a co je ještě horší, tak jednotlivé skupiny si navzájem nerozumí ani slovo.
I když je hlavní organizátor popisovaný jako velká šajba, je to v podstatě klasický Dortmunder, který většinu knihy trpí nad chováním ostatních členů týmu a nad tím, že nikdo neumí anglicky. A samozřejmě, v okamžiku, kdy se zločin povede, začne to být každý proti každému a chaos ještě graduje.
Castle in the Air je příjemná a neprávem zapomenutá komediální Westlakeovina, navíc docela krátká. Trochu mi přišlo, že autor prostě začal psát, nechal se svést k několika komediálním scénám, aby ve chvíli, kdy měl pocit, že má dost, knihu nějak uzavřel. Ale rozhodně je to komediální jízda s několika skvělými a perfektně vygradovanými momenty. A vlastně jediné, co se dá knize vytknout, je název. Hrad se nikdy do povětří nevznese a loupež stojí na poměrně obyčejných krádežích náklaďáků a vlaků.

[Shaun Stanley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Castle in the Air is a novel written by Donald E. Westlake and originally released in 1980.

The President of a fictitious South American country that is on the verge of a revolution, has come up with a plan to sneak out his vast wealth in to by moving his whole castle estate, block by block, to France. Inside the castle blocks, the President has snuck in millions of dollars worth of gold, money, and jewels. A group of four international heist artists team up to steal this once in a lifetime score but will only succeed if they understand each other languages and develop a sense of trust.

At first I wasn’t too sure of this book because it throws a lot of characters at you very, very quickly. But once the caper gets underway, it is nonstop action and comedy. I am shocked this book isn’t a movie. It would be perfect as large scale action-comedy heist movie aka Ocean’s Eleven or The Italian Job. This is the second Westlake book I have read released under the Hard Case Crime imprint and he is quickly becoming a favorite author. Definitely cannot wait to read more!

[Wesley Mead · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty amusing, and the elaborate theft at the story's center is a good one, but there's a couple too many characters and settings to feel cohesive

[Pupottina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nuovi misteri fra antiche mura.

Solitamente pensiamo ai castelli, antiche ed imponenti costruzioni, come luogo ideale per l'apparizione di un fantasma che ci deve spaventare e minacciare con suoni di catene e lamenti o con improvvise e fugaci, ma terrificanti, apparizioni. Invece, una volta tanto ci piacerà scoprire che i castelli possono essere il luogo per un efferato delitto o, ancora meglio, più di uno. Tanti sono i personaggi, tanti sono i sospettati, tante le potenziali vittime. Grazie a Donald E. Westlake, a Edgar Wallac e a G.K. Chesterton superiamo il ponte levatoio e facciamo il nostro ingresso fra le antiche e regali stante d'un tempo dove ora sicuramente sta per accadere un crimine. Spetta a noi affiancare l'indagatore di turno e risolvere il rebus del delitto, prima che ne avvenga un altro.
Ottima raccolta di tre perfetti classici del giallo, opera di tre celebri maestri del genere.

[Bryan House · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. I just was lucky enough to see this book tucked away in a corner of the book store.

I like to judge based off of the cover. ESPECIALLY if the cover is a paperback. Win.win.

Anyways the cast of characters is rather large for such a short book and I adored all of them.
This book is easily a favorite and something I would def reccomend to others.

An expert group from around the wall try to pull off a heist to steal an entire castle.

It's quirky, Hilarious, and so so so so Cinematic. I want Wes Anderson to make this into a movie now.

[Sarandah chrysalis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Added today but read years ago. This book was utterly ridiculous- who steals a castle? But it was also funny. Anytime an author can have you rooting for the - rather inept- bad guys, that’s talent.

[Caroline]

abandoned on page 84. I love Dortmunder, but couldn't take this stew of every stereotype of gender and nationality. Very dated.

[Johnny · Rating 5 out of 5]

In reading Castle in the Air, I don’t think I’ve followed such a chaotic, frenetic, and hilarious comedy of greed since I saw Kubrick’s It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad World in Cinemascope. Although the scavenger chase in the old film and the multinational caper gone awry in the novel are very different in set-up, Castle in the Air is more meticulously plotted. Both comedies use stereotypes worthy of a commedia dell’ arte stage production, but where the film occasionally felt like loose scenes where comedy icons did their stuff, Westlake’s characters follow an intricate choreography.

The plot of Castle in the Air builds on an idealistic and beautiful revolutionary from the fictional dictatorship of Yerbadora. Lida (who is described in such terms and so desired by multiple characters in our farce that she reminds me of “Leda and the Swan”) has information that said dictator is using an international exposition to ship and reassemble a Yerbadoran castle in Paris.
The gimmick is that within the materials from that castle are hidden the vast treasures of Yerbadora which the dictator is smuggling out in anticipation of a coup against him. Lida is convinced that the treasure belongs to the people’s revolutionary forces and is willing to deal with international criminals in order to recover said treasure from the building materials and furnishings of the castle.
Since the eponymous castle was to arrive in multiple shipments, it was desirable to recruit and coordinate multiple teams to “hijack” said shipments and locate the “loot.” To recruit these teams, Lida relied upon a master criminal planner named Eustace (probably coincidence but reminding me of the greedy boy in the Narnia books who became a dragon by sleeping on a dragon’s treasure). Lida and Eustace agreed to split the “loot” in half but, behind her back, Eustace planned to double-cross her and keep it all. There is no honor among thieves and, as one would expect, the plot unravels to prove this.

There is a French team of master thieves, an English team of con-artists and thieves, an Italian team, and a German team. Unfortunately for the coordination of the scheme but fortunately for the comedic business in the book, no one speaks all of the languages (to which we should add Lida’s Spanish). Each team is able to assert its specialties in delightful ways. After all, what would even a comedic crime caper be without some elaborate scenarios including: a) railroad hijacking, b) truck hijacking, c) abandoned hideaways, and d) abandoned Metra stations? I found my head shaking in amusement so often that observers might have thought I had the “shakes.”

Castle in the Air has a rather far-fetched denouement but one should be reminded that the novel is a comedy (albeit so cinematic it deserved to be a film) complete with the full “U” or smile-shaped figure taking one from status quo through the nadir of misadventures and back to the apex of new beginning. If one is a fan of those cinematic endings where one gets a brief description of what happened to each character after the events of the film, one will truly enjoy the descriptive final scene.

On my recent train trip where I read both Westlake’s Double Feature and Castle in the Air, I may have been extra receptive to both of these books. I rate them extra high compared to my usual ratings, but for different reasons. Yet, I can find no reason to suggest otherwise than that they are exactly what I wanted and needed at the time.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Castle in the Air isn't the best of Westlake by any stretch of the imagination. On the other hand, it is an awful lot of fun. It is one of those heist novels where everything goes wrong.

When a dictactor decides to flee his small nation, he needs to sneak his wealth out of the nation. He does so by shipping a castle to a Paris exposition with treasures concealed in the blocks. A criminal mastermind assembles a team of criminals to steal the castle before it can be assembled for the exposition. The primary source of comedy comes from the fact that the criminals he recruits are from various nations and speak French, Italian, German, and Spanish. This leads to a great deal of comedic relief as they argue with one another, but don't know exactly what the subject of the arguments really are.

To add insult to injury, each international group intends to doublecross the others and take the loot for themselves. There is much chasing about (think the old movie It's a Mad, Mad Mad World) and hollering in various languages.

A clever idea... a clever novel... lots of laughs... and an interesting conclusion. It is a story that just seems as confusing as the people confused in their languages... disjointed and confusing in places... still worth reading the comedy.

[Bob Schnell · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Castle in the Air" is a pretty silly crime caper reminiscent of a 1960's film where Peter Sellers plays multiple parts. I could actually envision the cast of stock comic actors from that period. Still, an enjoyable read.

[Nicholas Amendola · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok. My least favorite Westlake novel so far but still has some good moments if humor though

[Paul Reeve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Westlake on half power - fun high concept, rather thin execution. But fun enough.

[Erik Tanouye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another delightful breezy heist/double-cross story from Donald Westlake. I find his light crime fiction is the perfect kind of book to read on a rainy or snowy weekend. Or while traveling, in times when it's safe to travel. This one takes place in Paris, so it's a bit like taking a trip to France if you're feeling cooped up at home.
(Won this early copy from Hard Case.)

[Craig Childs · Rating 2 out of 5]

The soon-to-be-deposed leader of the obscure South American nation Yerbadoro has a plan to save his skin and his fortune. He has agreed to dismantle his summer castle and have it shipped, brick by brick, to the World Expo in Paris for an exhibition. He will hide his treasure inside some of the hollowed-out bricks. He can abscond with the money and live in exile with his wife. Unfortunately for him, a beautiful idealist has discovered the plan and enlisted the aid of professional criminals to reclaim the money on behalf of the people of her homeland…

Four separate teams of thieves from England, France, Italy, and Germany must steal the parts of the castle while they are en route, locate the gold, and get away safely. The teams do not speak the same language, they have no intention of sharing the loot with the Yerbadorons or even with each other, and the gendarmes are hot on their trail…

What could possibly go wrong?

This is a slapstick heist/chase story, similar in tone to movies like Cannonball Run and The Pink Panther. It is not my type of humor. I much prefer more ruminative, character-based humor like Westlake wrote in Brothers Keepers, "Love in the Lean Years", and "Too Many Crooks".

Even so, Westlake is a consummate craftsman. Two scenes in particular stand out in this novel. In the first, five men (none of whom speak each other's language) arrive at the hotel room of a beautiful woman at the same time to woo her. What follows is a very funny, very politically incorrect comedy showcasing all sorts of ethnic stereotypes.

Another well-choreographed scene details the abduction of two delivery trucks in the middle of the Arc de Triomphe in broad daylight. Nine characters come suddenly together in a clash that is surprising, mirthful, and suspenseful all at the same time.

Westlake's gift for metaphors is also on full display with quips like "Behind his darks eyes his brain could be seen ticking away faster than a taxicab meter in Milan."

Unfortunately, there is nothing to make the characters or the story particularly memorable. It is good for a few chuckles but nothing more substantial than that.

[Darius Ostrowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun caper through the streets of Paris... this has the feel of a 1960s/1970s comedy chase movie.

We start with four thieves, English/German/French/Italian... add their accomplices (none of which speak English), a beautiful South American lady who wants to prevent the dictator from stealing the money from her people, her "cousin" / lover who knows that the dictator has hid the money in castle stones being shipped to Paris for an international world's fair, and the English thief who is trying to keep the wheels from falling off this madcap farce. What could possibly go wrong?

Rather predictable, but well written and laugh out loud funny. The double-crosses, chases, conspiracies, lies, misunderstandings, are all very well done. A quick fun read.

[City Mist · Rating 2 out of 5]

A light, fluffy, dare I say insubstantial heist comedy from Donald E. Westlake. This feels tailor made to be adapted as a mediocre Guy Ritchie movie that will languish for eternity in Sunday afternoon cable television listings. I'm kind of surprised it hasn't been already. Westlake cheekily dedicates this one to "the guys and gals at the Internal Revenue Service," so I wouldn't be surprised if it was hastily written to pay off an audit.

[Paul · Rating 1 out of 5]

The weakest Westlake I've ever read. 5 or six years later this story of a group of criminals stealing the bricks of a castle might have been a decent Dortmunder, but here it's just a complete misfire. Not funny, not thrilling.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful woman named Lida from the (fictitious) South African nation of Yerbadoro has come to ‘master criminal’ Eustache Dent with a proposition. Escobar Lynch, the president of her nation has been ousted in a coup. The former dictator faces exile to keep his life, but cannot bring any of the tremendous fortune he has amassed off exploitation of the masses.

Lida has inside information that Escobar has a cunning plan to get his riches outside of the country: smuggling the fortune hidden in the bricks of his castle, an architectural attraction that is being disassembled and shipped to Paris to be reassembled for a special international exposition. Lida wants her people’s money returned to the people, but is willing to split the treasure with Dent, the nefarious thief who might just be able to pull such a heist off: taking a whole castle.

The novel begins with Dent starting to assemble his international group of thieves needed to coordinate such a complicated caper. He enlists a top thief from England, France, Germany, and Italy and instructs them each to recruit goons to help them. Each team is to simultaneously steal the castle blocks (edifices) as they are transported en route to Paris. None of the criminals are too happy about half the spoils going to Lida and back to to Yerbadoro, but Dent assures the team leaders that they will be cheating her out of any money as soon as they are able.

There are a couple problems. First, none of the thieves share a common language, so coordinating proves to be quite a challenging task! A bigger issue is that no one knows with part of the disassembled castle will hold the loot until after all are separately stolen and searched. Once one team discovers their pieces of the structure hold the valuables, what’s stopping them from taking it all and running? Is there any trust among criminals? Or will the fear of being chased by their fellow colleagues be a deterrent against greed? When there’s so much money involved, none of them can manage to say no, and all simply push doubts aside.

As I started reading Castle in the Air I became reminded of Rowan Atkinson’s The Black Adder, particularly a first series episode where the Prince Edmund goes throughout England to enlist the most ruthless bandits and criminals for help in seizing the throne. Things don’t go as planned. After all, you can’t really expect criminals to play well together.

The novel proceeds similarly, with farcical takes on each nation’s thieves that includes silly sounding names and clichéd eccentricities, all for comedic effect. With a fast moving pace the story proceeds through all the introductions and then spends a chapter on the actual theft. Then the really zany aspects of the caper begin, the double, triple, and quadruple crosses between each of the international teams. The humor of idiots trying to deal with the language barriers gets amped up through this all, until things finally settle with the loot ‘won’ by one and the others discovering themselves with unexpected successes of a different kind.

Castle in the Air is a much lighter sort of fare from Hard Case Crime than normal, but that doesn’t make it less entertaining. Just in a different way. There is very little violence, more just inept bumbling. No one dies, they are just humiliated. There is also very little sex or femme fatale type interaction, and brief bits that are present are also mostly played for comedy by poking fun at the stereotypes, and making the playfully seductive language extremely corny.

The success of the novel then is really going to depend on the reader’s potential enjoyment of a silly caper romp. It’s a pulp crime version of It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World. It may not be as laugh out loud funny, but some chuckles may come. The other potential interest for Castle in the Air may come for fans of the author. The prolific Westlake first had this novel published in 1980 and it’s pretty much disappeared since then. Hard Case Crime does a great job reissuing forgotten works such as this. It’s certainly not Westlake’s best, or usual kind of offering, but it is a worthwhile quick read, a curiosity worth a rediscover by genre fans.