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The Hook
Wayne Prentice is a midlist author who must face the hard fact that the world no longer values his work. He has watched a pseudonym, two careers, and his sales disappear and feels like it may be time to quit writing for good. On the other hand, Bryce Proctorr fires out one bestseller after the next and has a multi-million dollar deal for his next book. Unfortunately, his divorce has given him writer's block and Bryce cannot solve his dilemma as his deadline rapidly approaches. So, Bryce proposes a partnership to Wayne: give Bryce his unpublished manuscript and the two of them can split the advance 50/50. There's just one small catch -- Wayne has to put Mrs. Proctorr six feet under.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published March 2, 2000
39 people are currently reading
386 people want to read
About the author
Donald E. Westlake
434 books956 followersDonald 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
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
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 127 reviews
November 16, 2011
Bryce Proctor, a best-selling author, is going through a nasty bout of writer's block and an even nastier divorce. He runs into an old acquaintance, Wayne Prentice. Wayne is a good but low selling author who's burned through his latest pseudonym. Proctor makes Prentice an offer he can't refuse: Let Proctor put his name on Prentice's newest book and they'll split the profits fifty-fifty. The only condition: Proctor's soon to be ex-wife must die...
How's that for a Hook? Westlake pours on the psychological suspense in this one and it shows the depth of his skills. The story takes a Hitchcockian turn almost from the get-go. Once the deed occurs, Proctor descends into madness and Prentice winds up usurping parts of Proctor's life, including his apartment. I saw the ending coming but it was still a good one. The role reversal and the contrasting of each man's reaction to Proctor's wife's death was the highpoint of the book.
Donald Westlake was quite a writer and I think more people will realize this in the next few years. The Hook is a short but powerful book and I highly recommend it. It's now my second favorite story about the publishing industry, the first being Bestsellers, Guaranteed by Joe Lansdale.
How's that for a Hook? Westlake pours on the psychological suspense in this one and it shows the depth of his skills. The story takes a Hitchcockian turn almost from the get-go. Once the deed occurs, Proctor descends into madness and Prentice winds up usurping parts of Proctor's life, including his apartment. I saw the ending coming but it was still a good one. The role reversal and the contrasting of each man's reaction to Proctor's wife's death was the highpoint of the book.
Donald Westlake was quite a writer and I think more people will realize this in the next few years. The Hook is a short but powerful book and I highly recommend it. It's now my second favorite story about the publishing industry, the first being Bestsellers, Guaranteed by Joe Lansdale.
December 4, 2018
The plot master Donald Westlake does it again by weaving a tale of two writers: Bryce Proctorr, a widely popular author with marriage problems and serious writer's block, and Wayne Prentice, a failing mid-level writer with money problems; and in the vein of Strangers on a Train, Bryce allows Wayne to use his name on his next book and split the profits, in exchange for getting rid of Bryce's wife...permanently.
I didn't realize how fun it would be to watch two nerdy writers try to pull off a murder and get away with it, but this is Westlake of course. He makes it all really believable and engaging as the two deal with committing a crime the way writers probably would: crafting motivations, red herrings, and plot twists in order to not only get away with murder but navigate the publishing industry, all while Westlake is doing the same thing with us. Fun times!
I didn't realize how fun it would be to watch two nerdy writers try to pull off a murder and get away with it, but this is Westlake of course. He makes it all really believable and engaging as the two deal with committing a crime the way writers probably would: crafting motivations, red herrings, and plot twists in order to not only get away with murder but navigate the publishing industry, all while Westlake is doing the same thing with us. Fun times!
June 24, 2011
Think about how many mysteries, thrillers and crime novels are published anymore. Then think about how many people are writing them. There’s a whole lot of authors sitting in front of laptops thinking about murdering people. What if some of them got a little too involved in their work?
Bryce Proctor is a very successful novelist who writes best selling thrillers, but he has a big problem. He’s going through a prolonged and messy divorce that has given him a bad case of writer’s block. Bryce bumps into old friend and writer Wayne Prentice who has his own problem. Wayne is a good writer, but he never had a big breakthrough novel and diminishing sales have left him without a publisher.
Bryce sees an opportunity and proposes a solution. He’ll tweak Wayne’s latest unpublished novel and release it as his own, and the two will split Bryce‘s completion fee, over a million dollars. Wayne is willing to go for the deal, but Bryce has an extra condition. He wants Wayne to kill his wife, too.
Westlake seems to have been in a groove when he wrote The Ax and this one. In both he came up with great ideas for plots and then turned them into incredible books of psychological suspense where seemingly ordinary people do terrible things to try and save their way of life. It’s also a masterful presentation of the unexpected ways that guilt can manifest itself and take over someone’s life.
As a bonus for people who like to read, it’s got an interesting perspective inside the world of authors and the publishing industry. It’ll make you wonder whose work you’re really reading.
This is another gem from Westlake.
Bryce Proctor is a very successful novelist who writes best selling thrillers, but he has a big problem. He’s going through a prolonged and messy divorce that has given him a bad case of writer’s block. Bryce bumps into old friend and writer Wayne Prentice who has his own problem. Wayne is a good writer, but he never had a big breakthrough novel and diminishing sales have left him without a publisher.
Bryce sees an opportunity and proposes a solution. He’ll tweak Wayne’s latest unpublished novel and release it as his own, and the two will split Bryce‘s completion fee, over a million dollars. Wayne is willing to go for the deal, but Bryce has an extra condition. He wants Wayne to kill his wife, too.
Westlake seems to have been in a groove when he wrote The Ax and this one. In both he came up with great ideas for plots and then turned them into incredible books of psychological suspense where seemingly ordinary people do terrible things to try and save their way of life. It’s also a masterful presentation of the unexpected ways that guilt can manifest itself and take over someone’s life.
As a bonus for people who like to read, it’s got an interesting perspective inside the world of authors and the publishing industry. It’ll make you wonder whose work you’re really reading.
This is another gem from Westlake.
September 18, 2014
Last year I read Donald E. Westlake's The Ax, which I felt was a phenomenal book. Following my cue, Stephen King also placed it on his all-time favorite list. Okay, the last sentence might have a bit of exaggeration on my part.
But believe me when I tell you that there was not a single book which a reader could go-to after devouring "The Ax". I have futilely searched for a book with more or less similar theme, or which was as good.
But turns out, I was searching too far. Westlake was aware of the situation, and so he wrote “The Hook”.
“The Hook” follows two novel writers; Wayne Prentice and Bryce Proctorr. While Wayne is a good writer, his work is not in demand anymore. On the other hand, Bryce Proctorr is one of the most popular authors of New York, who churns out one bestseller after another. But due to a bitter ongoing divorce procedure, he couldn’t concentrate anymore and is having a severe writer’s block. Deadline for his next book is approaching fast, and he doesn’t know what to do.
Wayne Prentice has already written a manuscript, and although it is good, there are no takers. So a chance encounter with Wayne Prentice gives Bryce Proctorr an idea. He could publish Wayne’s novel in his own name, and he would give Wayne half of the advance. But as Bryce’s soon-to-be ex-wife is demanding half of everything Bryce makes, Bryce wants Wayne to kill his wife before the book gets published.
Even though we as a reader can guess what might happen, Westlake still manages to surprise a lot. His writing is witty, sometimes caustic, but more importantly - highly intelligent. The first half of the book is as good as “The Ax”. The second half bogs down a bit, but then again, it’s impossible to surpass the thrill of “The Ax”, even for Westlake.
So, if you haven’t read “The Ax” yet, promptly do so. Then if you have a wicked mind like me, you are bound to desire something more in the same vein; so follow it up with this book.
November 25, 2018
4.5*
He liked Bryce, had liked him in a casual way in the old days, had admired and envied him from afar for a long time, and had felt many different things toward him in the last six months. But he still had to identify with Bryce as another writer, another storyteller, and how horrible it has to be when the stories won't come. When this static is all you can find.
Bryce and Wayne knew each other in their youth, though they were never really friends. Meeting twenty years later they reminisce about their shared pasts, such as they are, and over coffee in a cafe Bryce confesses he has had writers block over the past 18 months due to a protracted and vicious divorce with his soon to be ex-wife. Wayne relates how, although he is writing, following diminishing sales of his own books, which rallied for a while when he wrote under a pen-name, is back in his former doledrums. Bryce suggests an alliance, as bizarre as it at first seems, that Wayne gives Bryce his latest book, which Bryce, after altering slightly to seem more authentic to Bryce's style, they then secretly publish under Bryce's name and split the one million dollar fee 50/50. There's just one hitch: Wayne must murder Bryce's wife, otherwise the "bitch" will get Bryce's share of the million dollar payment from the publisher for their book.
Somewhat reminicient of Patricia Highsmith's 'Strangers on a Train', but only in tone, Westlake delivers here another twisted tale and satirical and cynical spin on writing and the publishing world as only he can.
My introduction to Donald E. Westlake dates back at least 25 years, where quite by chance i picked up one of his 'Parker' novels and was hooked. I read all 24 of the 'Parker' novels in short order. Then a few books in the 'Dortmunder' series. Whilst i didn't enjoy those as much as the 'Parker' novels, it did prompt me to seek out some of Westlake's stand-alone novels. Among the most memorable (and delightfully disturbing of those) were 'Memory' and 'The Ax'. Both have endings that are utterly devastating, not only to the story's participants, but also to the reader. With 'The Ax' it took me a couple of weeks to decide if in fact i liked it at all. I reached the conclusion that i did, finally. 'The Hook' is similar to both the aforementioned books in one regard:
There's a feeling of imminent doom throughout this book, so you know it won't end well, but the tension builds to imbue the tale with a: "Yes it's a train wreck and i don't want to witness the bloody carnage, but at the same time i can't look away".
Recommended with 4.5*.
He liked Bryce, had liked him in a casual way in the old days, had admired and envied him from afar for a long time, and had felt many different things toward him in the last six months. But he still had to identify with Bryce as another writer, another storyteller, and how horrible it has to be when the stories won't come. When this static is all you can find.
Bryce and Wayne knew each other in their youth, though they were never really friends. Meeting twenty years later they reminisce about their shared pasts, such as they are, and over coffee in a cafe Bryce confesses he has had writers block over the past 18 months due to a protracted and vicious divorce with his soon to be ex-wife. Wayne relates how, although he is writing, following diminishing sales of his own books, which rallied for a while when he wrote under a pen-name, is back in his former doledrums. Bryce suggests an alliance, as bizarre as it at first seems, that Wayne gives Bryce his latest book, which Bryce, after altering slightly to seem more authentic to Bryce's style, they then secretly publish under Bryce's name and split the one million dollar fee 50/50. There's just one hitch: Wayne must murder Bryce's wife, otherwise the "bitch" will get Bryce's share of the million dollar payment from the publisher for their book.
Somewhat reminicient of Patricia Highsmith's 'Strangers on a Train', but only in tone, Westlake delivers here another twisted tale and satirical and cynical spin on writing and the publishing world as only he can.
My introduction to Donald E. Westlake dates back at least 25 years, where quite by chance i picked up one of his 'Parker' novels and was hooked. I read all 24 of the 'Parker' novels in short order. Then a few books in the 'Dortmunder' series. Whilst i didn't enjoy those as much as the 'Parker' novels, it did prompt me to seek out some of Westlake's stand-alone novels. Among the most memorable (and delightfully disturbing of those) were 'Memory' and 'The Ax'. Both have endings that are utterly devastating, not only to the story's participants, but also to the reader. With 'The Ax' it took me a couple of weeks to decide if in fact i liked it at all. I reached the conclusion that i did, finally. 'The Hook' is similar to both the aforementioned books in one regard:
There's a feeling of imminent doom throughout this book, so you know it won't end well, but the tension builds to imbue the tale with a: "Yes it's a train wreck and i don't want to witness the bloody carnage, but at the same time i can't look away".
Recommended with 4.5*.
December 14, 2022
Maybe 3+. Not my favorite Westlake. Somehow I saw the ending coming, way back in my thoughts. At least it was good for wasting time.
July 11, 2018
The Hook could have been a much better novel than it ends up being. There are a lot interesting threads throughout the novel, none of which are fully realized. When author Bryce Proctorr is in a slump and can't even get started writing a novel he's already late delivering to his publisher he makes a Faustian deal with an another author who has written a good novel, but can't get it published. Proctorr's advance would be $1.1 million and he offers to split it with the author, Wayne Prentice. There's just one catch though. Proctorr is in the midst of a messy divorce and while he's still married his wife Lucie would get half the advance. Proctorr would get nothing. Unless Lucie were to die.
August 3, 2021
On the one hand, a sly, knowing tale of writing, not writing, publishing, not publishing, and murder. On the other it's one of the most disturbing psychological thrillers I've ever read. Vintage Westlake.
December 16, 2013
Classic tale of two writers in NYC, one “literary” and one “commercial,” and a murder that involves them both.
May 12, 2020
This is like my 15th book or so by Donald E. Westlake, the most underrated (and the best) American writer of the last third of the twentieth century, in my opinion...and I think this is the best one I've read so far, although perhaps I think that way after reading each of his novels that I like so much. This seems to be a reincarnation of The Ax, another novel from about five years before this one, about a middle-class worker trying to regain his footing in the precarious footing in the downsizing economy. This one is just as good, perhaps even better, at least to me because I'm a writer, so I could emotionally relate to the ins and outs of publishing and a literary career and really appreciate how Westlake worked all that into his classic story of crime and punishment. The Westlake novels I've read from the 2000s are generally far inferior to his work from the 1960s to the 1990s, so it's possible that The Hook reached such a state of perfection--I really can't pick out any flaws in narrative, plotting, structure, characterization, plausibility, artfulness--that there was nowhere for him to go but down from that point on. The ending is sort of telegraphed right at the start of the final chapter, and is immensely satisfactory in tying up the loose ends in a perfect moral arc. You wonder, fifty or so pages from the end, just how he is going to wrap this up, it seems that he's made himself juggle too many balls, but the ending puts it all together neatly. It's just about the perfect novel from someone who has emerged as my favorite writer of the last fifty years. I intend to read every single one of his books.
October 12, 2024
Donald Westlake has a way of taking the loopiest of scenarios and making them not only entertaining, but downright riveting. In this one, a blocked, best-selling writer facing a deadline and a divorce, solves both problems by enticing a less-successful acquaintance to write his book and kill his wife. For that little service, he'll split his million dollar advance. Incredibly, these two ink-stained wretches act on this scheme, and despite every reason it shouldn't, the plan works to perfection. Naturally, everything goes off the rails, but not in the ways the reader might expect. Westlake isn't interested in how the perfect crime, due to some unforeseen circumstance or overlooked detail, unravels. Rather, he is interested in the unraveling of the human soul. If that sounds too heavy, rest assured, it's handled with wit, humor, and plenty of plot twists. Making a story about writers interesting is notoriously difficult, but Westlake is able to avoid the usual cliches and present two characters that are both believable and relatable. He also manages, with a few deft strokes, to make the two wives--who could easily have been mere throwaways--both vivid and essential. Beyond that--and this may be the neatest trick--Westlake makes WRITING interesting. Woven throughout is a mini-primer on writing popular fiction. As a writer myself, reading this book made me want to get back to the computer RIGHT NOW. Of course, I had to finish the book first. It's a slow burn, but every time I set it aside I had to pick it back up again. And the climax is a killer.
October 12, 2021
Compelling read, but also unpleasant. Left a bad taste in my head.
Read
November 18, 2024Really tight Westlake novel about two writers, and, of course, a murder. Ending is sensational.
March 5, 2015
Bryce Proctorr is doing research at the library, or at least sitting there pretending to do research. He's a best-selling author who's way behind on meeting the commitment with his publisher for his next book. He's in the process of obtaining an acrimonious divorce from his money-grubbing second wife, and the Muse has deserted him. As Bryce leaves the library, he spots an old friend that he hasn't seen for 20 years, Wayne Prentice. Wayne is also a writer, but nowhere near as successful as Bryce. As a so-called "mid-list" author, Wayne's books are not promoted heavily; and his books are stocked according to how well they sell.
And as sales diminish, so do his publishing advances.
As the two men talk, Bryce is struck with an inspiration. He has a publisher and no book. Wayne has a book and no publisher. So what do you think they should do? Aha! Why not submit Wayne's book under Bryce's name and split the 1.1 million dollar advance? That will work, won't it? No problems, right?
No problems, wrong! There's one little catch--in order to get the money, Wayne has to get rid of the wicked wife, Lucie, or otherwise, she will be in line for Bryce's share of the advance. He decides that he wants to meet her to see if she's as bad as Bryce says and attends the opening of an off-Broadway play that she will be attending. They engage in some flirtatious banter and arrange to meet for dinner. Even though he is happily married, Wayne's wife Susan has agreed to go along with whatever he needs to do. The after-dinner activities are not quite what either Wayne or Lucie intended.
Suffice it to say that Lucie is no longer a problem. The book is accepted by the ublisher, and life goes on. Wayne is still unable to get a contract on his own, although he does start to make some money writing nonfiction magazine articles. In the meantime, Bryce is spiraling into a world of weirdness. He gives up his New York apartment and moves to his home in Connecticut. In a strange twist, Wayne and Susan take over the apartment, including most of the furniture. Bryce puts together plot synopses that are totally off the wall. When his publisher begins to look for the next book, there's nothing there. So who should he turn to but Wayne? And the publisher tacitly goes along with the game, because they have the hook of a brand name.
The characters of Bryce Proctorr and Wayne Prentice are very well developed, and it's interesting to watch each of them deal with their various ambitions. The pace of the book could have been a bit brisker. I suppose the book would be classified as psychological suspense, but it tended to drag throughout the middle. There's really no action to speak of, but watching Bryce unravel before our eyes is quite a scary experience. The views of the publishing industry and the world of the best-selling and midlist authors were interesting. I bet there are many
Bryce/Wayne type collaborations out there that readers are unaware of.
The book is meant to end with a surprising twist, but it is not well executed, having been telegraphed for several pages before the conclusion. In reality, it raises a lot of unanswered questions, which leaves the reader in thin air. We all know that there are consequences for our behavior; but how this ultimately applies to Wayne and Bryce is only hinted at. No doubt about it, Westlake is a great writer; but this book left me wanting something more.
And as sales diminish, so do his publishing advances.
As the two men talk, Bryce is struck with an inspiration. He has a publisher and no book. Wayne has a book and no publisher. So what do you think they should do? Aha! Why not submit Wayne's book under Bryce's name and split the 1.1 million dollar advance? That will work, won't it? No problems, right?
No problems, wrong! There's one little catch--in order to get the money, Wayne has to get rid of the wicked wife, Lucie, or otherwise, she will be in line for Bryce's share of the advance. He decides that he wants to meet her to see if she's as bad as Bryce says and attends the opening of an off-Broadway play that she will be attending. They engage in some flirtatious banter and arrange to meet for dinner. Even though he is happily married, Wayne's wife Susan has agreed to go along with whatever he needs to do. The after-dinner activities are not quite what either Wayne or Lucie intended.
Suffice it to say that Lucie is no longer a problem. The book is accepted by the ublisher, and life goes on. Wayne is still unable to get a contract on his own, although he does start to make some money writing nonfiction magazine articles. In the meantime, Bryce is spiraling into a world of weirdness. He gives up his New York apartment and moves to his home in Connecticut. In a strange twist, Wayne and Susan take over the apartment, including most of the furniture. Bryce puts together plot synopses that are totally off the wall. When his publisher begins to look for the next book, there's nothing there. So who should he turn to but Wayne? And the publisher tacitly goes along with the game, because they have the hook of a brand name.
The characters of Bryce Proctorr and Wayne Prentice are very well developed, and it's interesting to watch each of them deal with their various ambitions. The pace of the book could have been a bit brisker. I suppose the book would be classified as psychological suspense, but it tended to drag throughout the middle. There's really no action to speak of, but watching Bryce unravel before our eyes is quite a scary experience. The views of the publishing industry and the world of the best-selling and midlist authors were interesting. I bet there are many
Bryce/Wayne type collaborations out there that readers are unaware of.
The book is meant to end with a surprising twist, but it is not well executed, having been telegraphed for several pages before the conclusion. In reality, it raises a lot of unanswered questions, which leaves the reader in thin air. We all know that there are consequences for our behavior; but how this ultimately applies to Wayne and Bryce is only hinted at. No doubt about it, Westlake is a great writer; but this book left me wanting something more.
November 8, 2019
A successful author w writer's block runs into a less-successful author, an acquaintance of some years back, they go out for a drink, and the successful author w writer's block asks the other: say: would you kill my wife?
Anything to get over writer's block!
Then: the B-reel author (living on Perry St., one of the nicest streets in all of Manhattan), goes home to his successful wife, says honey you'll never guess who I ran into today. Bryce Proctorr. The successful author? He has writer's block. He wants me to kill his wife.
And she says: honey, do it!! Our marriage will fail if you don't!!
So the unsuccessful author bludgeons the successful author's wife to death -- in her apartment -- after having dinner at a neighborhood bistro, after having been seen by the doorman three times.
And I thought American Psycho was ridiculous, I thought The Godfather treated life cheaply.
Anything to get over writer's block!
Then: the B-reel author (living on Perry St., one of the nicest streets in all of Manhattan), goes home to his successful wife, says honey you'll never guess who I ran into today. Bryce Proctorr. The successful author? He has writer's block. He wants me to kill his wife.
And she says: honey, do it!! Our marriage will fail if you don't!!
So the unsuccessful author bludgeons the successful author's wife to death -- in her apartment -- after having dinner at a neighborhood bistro, after having been seen by the doorman three times.
And I thought American Psycho was ridiculous, I thought The Godfather treated life cheaply.
December 2, 2008
Westlake obviously intended this as a followup for his dank, creepy, fascinating "The Ax," IMO one of his best ever. "The Hook" fell way short of that to me. He seems to be mining the same territory but I guess (to continue the metaphor) he stripped it pretty clean last time. This one didn't have the quality of plot of the predecessor and I found the ending way too abrupt (as if he suddenly decided he HAD TO FINISH IT AND GET IT TO THE PUBLISHER) and confusing. I absolutely love Westlake and would give most of the twenty or thirty of his books that I've read very high marks. This one was to me a rare dud.
March 10, 2023
I discovered Donald Westlake WAY too late in my life. I've loved every book of his that I've read. They're always a mix of pulpy and serious in a way that makes them all easy to get into. They read like a Hitchcock movie if it was written by Douglas Adams.
The Hook grabbed me from the first chapter. The characters are all fun and as you go, it's hard to tell who's the protagonist and who's the antagonist literally until that final page. This is a great read, and just like all Westlake novels, it's a great palette cleanser when you feel like you've read a lot of books in the same genre.
The Hook grabbed me from the first chapter. The characters are all fun and as you go, it's hard to tell who's the protagonist and who's the antagonist literally until that final page. This is a great read, and just like all Westlake novels, it's a great palette cleanser when you feel like you've read a lot of books in the same genre.
November 21, 2008
What a fun & twisted tale!
a story about "two men who live in a world of fiction, words, scenes, characters, and the tyranny of the New York Times bestseller list", where "Wayne Prentice sells his soul to his old friend" [Bryce Proctorr] and "begins a Hitchcockian journey to all the things he has ever wanted - at a price far too great to pay..."
Westlake is a fabulous storyteller, and this book is no exception. Twists and turns until the very last page!
a story about "two men who live in a world of fiction, words, scenes, characters, and the tyranny of the New York Times bestseller list", where "Wayne Prentice sells his soul to his old friend" [Bryce Proctorr] and "begins a Hitchcockian journey to all the things he has ever wanted - at a price far too great to pay..."
Westlake is a fabulous storyteller, and this book is no exception. Twists and turns until the very last page!
March 1, 2009
If you're a writer (or an aspiring writer) this is a fun and sort of creepy story about a writing partnership. One bestselling author is blocked and facing a deadline, a former bestselling author can't get any interest in his latest book. There's a catch to the collaboration that's a totally unbelievable, but the parts of the novel that deal with the publishing industry and the daily grind of being a working writer make the silly parts ignorable.
September 12, 2015
A 3.5 that could have been a 4, but for the story bogging down 2/3 of the way through. A very good premise and the storyline takes off pretty quickly, but loses steam, as if the author was uncertain as to the arc of his protagonists. I found the ending somewhat disappointing.
May 23, 2020
This was given to me by my dear friend Sandy, but it's a stupid, annoying book.
July 21, 2022
I really liked this book. The setup is like a writerly "Strangers on a Train" when Bryce, a famous writer runs into Wayne, a struggling midlist writer. Bryce is going through a nasty divorce that's given him writer's block while Wayne has been writing plenty, but can't get anyone to buy his work except under pseudonyms. So they come to an agreement: Wayne lets Bryce rewrite his latest book and claim it as his own and they'll split the advance. Oh, and Wayne needs to kill Bryce's wife to clear the way for them getting to share the whole advance.
Another book might have strung out the murder but it happens pretty quick. You'd think Wayne, as the murderer, would be the one who falls apart, but it's Bryce who still can't get things together. Meanwhile Wayne is finding new success writing for magazines and taking over Bryce's former apartment and befriending Bryce's editor.
The only thing I don't like is the ending. It ends with a cliffhanger of sorts. One that can't be resolved since the book was published 22 years ago and the author died 13 1/2 years ago. Not that I wanted Detective Johnson to come in and shoot one guy and slap cuffs on another or for Wayne and Bryce to fight on top of a waterfall or something, but it ends in a really unsatisfying way. But I guess you can use your imagination to think how things would work out.
That is all.
Another book might have strung out the murder but it happens pretty quick. You'd think Wayne, as the murderer, would be the one who falls apart, but it's Bryce who still can't get things together. Meanwhile Wayne is finding new success writing for magazines and taking over Bryce's former apartment and befriending Bryce's editor.
The only thing I don't like is the ending. It ends with a cliffhanger of sorts. One that can't be resolved since the book was published 22 years ago and the author died 13 1/2 years ago. Not that I wanted Detective Johnson to come in and shoot one guy and slap cuffs on another or for Wayne and Bryce to fight on top of a waterfall or something, but it ends in a really unsatisfying way. But I guess you can use your imagination to think how things would work out.
That is all.
January 13, 2023
I generally like Donald Westlake stories, but I found this one disappointing despite some promise. Some other reviewers have noted the story's similarity to "Strangers on a Train," though the bargain does not involve reciprocal acts of violence. Instead, the actual deal seems more like a murder for money involving two novelists -- one a giant success and the other struggling to publish his latest work.
The act of violence is very ugly and unsettling and the book seemed off-kilter after that. The murder affected the surviving spouse in a similar way and in some ways that is the point of the tale. I simply found too much of it non-credible or even over-the-top. Some interesting psychological threads did not produce much action (or resolution), which is also one of the critiques levied against a story idea pitched by one of the authors in the book. They talk a fair amount about writing fiction.
The act of violence is very ugly and unsettling and the book seemed off-kilter after that. The murder affected the surviving spouse in a similar way and in some ways that is the point of the tale. I simply found too much of it non-credible or even over-the-top. Some interesting psychological threads did not produce much action (or resolution), which is also one of the critiques levied against a story idea pitched by one of the authors in the book. They talk a fair amount about writing fiction.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 24, 2019
Como os decía el otro día, adoro a Westlake. Por eso me sorprende que El gancho https://amzn.to/2kIVvhP sea tan rematadamente mala. Si en vez de pegar a un padre con un calcetín sudado lo hiciéramos con esta novela, no supondría una gran diferencia.
Todo funciona mal en la novela, todo es gratuito y absurdo. Westlake, el hombre de las tramas que te van llevando solas, compone un argumento con tantos agujeros que te caes por ellos.
Ya el nombre de los protagonistas hace que uno arquee una ceja: Bryce Proctorr y Wayne Prentice. No puede ser más artificial. Lo curioso es que habla de un tema obviamente conocido por Westlake: escritores, seudónimos, negros literarios, etcétera. Pero la novela es es-pan-to-sa.
Ahora bien, sigo recomendando el resto de novelas de Westlake que he leído.
Todo funciona mal en la novela, todo es gratuito y absurdo. Westlake, el hombre de las tramas que te van llevando solas, compone un argumento con tantos agujeros que te caes por ellos.
Ya el nombre de los protagonistas hace que uno arquee una ceja: Bryce Proctorr y Wayne Prentice. No puede ser más artificial. Lo curioso es que habla de un tema obviamente conocido por Westlake: escritores, seudónimos, negros literarios, etcétera. Pero la novela es es-pan-to-sa.
Ahora bien, sigo recomendando el resto de novelas de Westlake que he leído.
October 17, 2018
Wayne Prentice is a midlist author who must face the hard fact that the world no longer values his work. He has watched a pseudonym, two careers, and his sales disappear and feels like it may be time to quit writing for good. On the other hand, Bryce Proctorr fires out one bestseller after the next and has a multi-million dollar deal for his next book. Unfortunately, his divorce has given him writer's block and Bryce cannot solve his dilemma as his deadline rapidly approaches. So, Bryce proposes a partnership to Wayne: give Bryce his unpublished manuscript and the two of them can split the advance 50/50. There's just one small catch -- Wayne has to put Mrs. Proctorr six feet under.
May 23, 2020
An unusual book in that the first three quarters of it are excellent, and the last quarter completely throws it all away. The first three quarters are tightly written and plotted, engaging, suspenseful, and plausible. The final quarter is implausible (why would Wayne ever take Bryce's old apartment, especially at that rent? why would Bryce confess to his first wife?), meandering (the chapters about Bryce going to the supermarket), and dull (the dinner party at Wayne's new apartment). I couldn't finish this part, so maybe it improved on the last page, but I doubt it. Read Westlake's vastly superior The Ax instead.
March 8, 2025
Bryce Proctorr offers to publish another author’s book under his name, and to split the million dollar advance with him. He also wants the other author to kill his almost ex-wife to keep her from getting half in the divorce. The other author, Wayne Prentice, with his wife’s approval (!), agrees!
Faint echoes of “Strangers on a Train” by Patricia Highsmith. A lot about the process of writing, sort of a primer of how to write a novel by Donald Westlake. But what kept me interested and entertained is that I kept trying to figure out where the story was going! Who was going to crack? Who was going to slip up? What would do what to whom? And to prove my enjoyment of my struggles of the direction the story was going:
GREAT ending! Totally unexpected!
Faint echoes of “Strangers on a Train” by Patricia Highsmith. A lot about the process of writing, sort of a primer of how to write a novel by Donald Westlake. But what kept me interested and entertained is that I kept trying to figure out where the story was going! Who was going to crack? Who was going to slip up? What would do what to whom? And to prove my enjoyment of my struggles of the direction the story was going:
GREAT ending! Totally unexpected!
October 12, 2017
I love Don Westlake so much. He's the secret master of the cheap paperback, writing genre fiction that's so seamless and so entertaining that its sophistication isn't immediately evident. This one masks some wickedly self-referential lines about novelists-- something I normally don't care for but works well here-- and nails the character motivations. That's always the thing with Westlake books: You can totally see where these monsters are coming from.
March 25, 2017
That was a quick, easy read.
I got interested in Donald Westlake because Dan Simmons had dedicated a book to him, so I looked him up and read two of his books. This one was published in 2000, and was similar to the other in that Westlake's fiction is easy reading, and things that seem like they should be harder to make happen, happen very easily. Fiction.
I got interested in Donald Westlake because Dan Simmons had dedicated a book to him, so I looked him up and read two of his books. This one was published in 2000, and was similar to the other in that Westlake's fiction is easy reading, and things that seem like they should be harder to make happen, happen very easily. Fiction.
October 9, 2019
Donald E. Westlake's tale of what happens when two fiction writers meet by happenstance, and resume their long forgotten friendship in this thrilling story of murder for hire. Westlake takes the reader on a Hitchcockian psychological journal into greed, envy, and madness, all in the name of fame and book sales.
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