When his "friend" Andy Kelp has a plan, career criminal John Dortmunder knows that means trouble. Kelp's schemes, no matter how well intentioned, tend to spiral quickly out of control. But this one, Kelp swears, is airtight. He read it in a book!

The novel featured a kidnapping so brilliant there's no way it wouldn't work in real life. Though offended that his usual role as heist planner has been usurped, Dortmunder reluctantly agrees to the scheme.

Unfortunately, they kidnap a kid smarter than all of them put together. What's simple on the page turns complex and chaotic--and there's no reference guide to help Dortmunder through the madness he's signed on for.

"[Westlake's] most durable character. Whatever can go wrong in the man's elaborate attempts at larceny invariably does, and in the most amusing and unexpected ways possible." --Los Angeles Times

"Westlake has no peer in the realm of comic mystery novelists." --San Francisco Chronicle