Despite the fruity title, LEMONS NEVER LIE is your typical offering from Hard Case Crime: lean, mean and good. Written in 1971 by Donald E. Westlake under his Richard Stark pseudonym, it concerns Alan Grofield, an ordinary guy who must take the occasional robbery gig in order to fund the summer stock theater he owns.
That’s a unique setup, even if the plot that follows is not. But I love this kind of plot, no matter how many times I encounter it. Grofield graciously bows out of a brewery heist masterminded by a guy named Myers when he learns of plans to kill people in the process. Stealing is one thing, but murder is out of the question. Myers doesn’t take the brush-off so easily, but Grofield retreats to his wife and stage, where he stays put until an old friend recruits him for a Food King holdup that’s supposed to be simple.
Emphasis on “simple.” And what happens next entails events both expected and shocking, sending Grofield on a mission of revenge so focused, it recalls the classic Westerns. Without spoiling anything, there is something he and his wife do following a tragic occurrence that I don’t buy in the least bit, even for 1971. But LEMONS doesn’t unfold with all its cards showing; rather, I didn’t know what Grofield had planned until the last few pages in the book. It makes for an end that’s admittedly too quick, but at least you’re kept guessing, and the final paragraph brought a sly, twisted smile to this face.
Of all the Westlake I’ve read – not a ton, but several works – I’ve never walked away disappointed. And with LEMONS, that admirable streak continues. –Rod Lott
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• 361 by Donald E. Westlake
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Thanks for the great review. I don’t have a billionth the grasp on the genre world that you do, but Westlake’s still one of my fave living fiction authors of any kind. Wrote a bit about him here.
Here’s to hoping HCC gets around to all of the Stark stuff currently out-of-print (the 3 other Grofields, and a couple of Parkers).
I bought the original for 22 bucks at a used bookstore