THE HOT ROCK (Donald E. Westlake) - January 25/20

Enjoyed this one quite a bit. It's got a few sluggish stretches, but Westlake does a superb job of establishing the characters and keeping the tone light (yet suspenseful in parts). I even laughed out loud once or twice, especially during Dortmunder's airplane hijacking getaway. Good stuff. ***1/2 out of ****

THE GETAWAY (Jim Thompson) - January 18/20

I was somehow never entirely able to get into this one, despite a solid assortment of characters and a smattering of compelling scenes (eg Doc pursues the thief onto a train and casually murders him). The surreal final 50 pages or so was terrible, to put it mildly, and I have no idea what Thompson was thinking. **1/2 out of ****

THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE (George V. Higgins) - January 10/20

Finally, an entertaining book. I'll admit it took me a while to get a handle on the various characters and there was a stretch near the beginning that lost its hold on me, but my interest returned with a vengeance after the first bank robbery, which was exciting and visceral. I can definitely see how this book has influenced certain filmmakers, especially Quentin Tarantino (the cheese sandwich/mayonnaise bit!), and I loved how brisk and appropriately short it was. ***1/2 out of ****

THE CHEMIST (Stephenie Meyer) - January 7/20

I liked the characters and the story here, but god almighty was this thing long. It felt like I was reading it forever, and certain stretches just drag like crazy. Instead of summing something up in one paragraph, Meyer devotes page after page to the most basic of things - to the point where I was just like, get on with it already! Anyway, it's a shame because she does an effective job of establishing the central characters and there are a few admittedly exciting passages. ** out of ****