Donald Westlake - Smoke

Elizabeth Louise also rose. "Well, give him my love," she said. "And I hope things work out for him. And if he gets the chance, he should come say hello himself."

"When we get where we're going," Peg said, "I'll make him write you a letter. Or at least a postcard."

They walked back to the front door, and as Elizabeth Louise opened it she felt something, some movement of air, some aura, some weird experience that frightened her all over again, and she said to Peg Briscoe, in the open doorway, "He isn't dead, is he?"

"I'm alive, Ma."

Peg Briscoe smiled a slightly nervous smile, said, "He's fine. 'Bye," and pulled the door shut.

Did I hear that? What was it?

Elizabeth Louise opened the door and watched Peg Briscoe cross the sidewalk to a little old green car. As Peg opened the driver's door, the passenger door opened by itself. She got in and shut the driver's door and the passenger door shut by itself. She waved and smiled, and drove away, and another wide-body jet's shadow crossed over Elizabeth Louise and the house.

This one she noticed. She looked up, as the shadow went by. One of those would be Freddie, with his nice girlfriend. From now on, it could be any one of them, going over. One of those shadows is Freddie.

PRAISE FOR

DONALD E. WESTLAKE AND S M O K E

"Explaining what happens in a Donald Westlake novel is like reading a recipe for meringue instead of eating the results. . . . I strongly suggest you buy a copy now and squirrel it away for emergency use the next time you find yourself stuck in an airport lounge with a departure time of maybe. The bartender may resent the fact that you're too busy laughing to order another drink, but you'll definitely feel better in the morning."

— New York Times Book Review

"Westlake is a consummate pro. . . . SMOKE is one of his best books in years."

— Washington Post Book World

"This is one of the funniest books I've read in a long time. The dialogue is outrageous, the situations implausible, the humor nonstop. Freddie is the most likable fictional scamp you're likely to ever encounter."

— San Francisco Examiner

"More effective than a nicotine patch, and much funnier."

— San Jose Mercury News

"Glorious Westlake comedy. . . . Full of hilarious characters, crackpot conversations and narrative sleight of hand."

— Publishers Weekly

"A funny mystery writer. . . . Only Westlake could have come up with this one."

— Larry King, USA Today

"No one's touch is as quixotically cockeyed as Westlake's, no one can keep you chuckling as continuously."

— Los Angeles Times Book Review

"Rousing . . . full of fun. . . . The anti-tobacco satire hits square on the mark."

— Kirkus Reviews

"Westlake's delightful and absurd new novel . . . delivers the laughs. No one can turn a phrase or pen a comedy caper like Westlake."

— Detroit News and Free Press

"Full of chuckles . . . SMOKE is deft entertainment."

— Booklist

"Donald Westlake is very funny and weirdly enlightening."

— Newsweek

"Westlake [is] establishing himself as one of the hippest, coolest, funniest mystery writers out there."

— New York magazine

"Mystery connoisseurs will feel driven to rush to their nearest bookstore for a copy of SMOKE."

— Mostly Murder

"Donald E. Westlake [is] the Noel Coward of crime. . . . He displays an excellent ear for bitter-salty urban humor, composed of equal parts of raunch and cynicism."

— Chicago Sun-Times

"Donald Westlake keeps showing me people I'd like to meet."

— Rex Stout

"Westlake tosses the sand of petty frustrations and human fallibility into the well-oiled machine of the thriller."

— TIME

"Westlake is among the smoothest, most engaging writers on the planet."

— San Diego Tribune

"A glorious Westlake comedy."

— Hackensack Record

"There is never a dull moment in this tale . . . a merry romp that is clever and memorable."

— Rainbo Electronic Reviews

"If you like humor in your mysteries, you'll love this one."

— Abilene Reporter-News

"Suspend disbelief, get a few hankies for those tears of mirth, and spend an evening with this book. It's fun."

— Baton Rouge Advocate

Also By Donald E. Westlake

NOVELS

Humans

Sacred Monster

A Likely Story

Kahawa

Brothers Keepers

I Gave at the Office

Adios, Scheherazade

Up Your Banners

COMIC CRIME NOVELS

Trust Me on This

High Adventure

Castle in the Air

Enough

Dancing Aztecs

Two Much

Help I Am Being Held Prisoner

Cops and Robbers

Somebody Owes Me Money

Who Stole Sassi Manoon?

God Save the Mark

The Spy in the Ointment

The Busy Body

The Fugitive Pigeon

Smoke

THE DORTMUNDER SERIES

Don't Ask

Drowned Hopes

Good Behavior

Why Me

Nobody's Perfect

Jimmy the Kid

Bank Shot

The Hot Rock

CRIME NOVELS

Pity Him Afterwards

Killy

361

Killing Time

The Mercenaries

JUVENILE

Philip

WESTERN

Gangway (with Brian Garfield)

REPORTAGE

Under an English Heaven

SHORT STORIES

Tomorrow's Crimes

Levine

The Curious Facts Preceding My Execution and Other Fictions

ANTHOLOGY

Once Against the Law (coedited by William Tenn)