Rating: 7

The cryptic little title of this grabbed my interest from the gitgo: Lemons Never Lie. I don’t like flipping through a book before I actually sit down to read it so the title tauted me until I began.

It made sense: slots. But it didn’t make sense. Because just the first quarter of the book happens in Vegas. I digress.

I’m familiar with Westlake’s work (mostly his short fiction) but I’d nver heard of this pseudo until it was sent to me from Hard Case. Familiar with the Parker character, I was eager for this one to come up. Then I learned that this one featured Grofield … one of Parker’s thief buddies who appeared in a few tomes in that series.

Just like the titles under Westlake, this book features an economy that keeps the pace fast … although the end left me wondering what happened to Grofield’s wife. She was key to the first three-quarters of the book and then vanished in the last quarter. Still, it didn’t take much away from this book.

The action was quick and Grofield’s sideline (when he wasn’t supplementing his income by being a thief) was as an actor and dinner theater owner. It made for a cute combination and it was what made the character work for me. He loathed violence and backed out of a job that would have required it. But he wasn’t afraid to use it when he needed it. Read the final quarter of the book and you’ll see.

This wasn’t as good as some of the other Hard Case titles I’ve read, but it is high quality and worth the read.