“We steal the entire castle.”

The castle is being shipped from Yerbadoro to Paris, and one dozen of the large blocks from the outer walls are hollowed out and filled with millions of dollars of valuables! It’s sort of like a Dortmunder story, but set in Europe and with fancier vocabulary!

The whole book has a slap-sticky vibe! Lots of misunderstandings because there are five different languages spoken amongst the gang! And the line of men knocking on Lida’s door, each with a different bottle of booze, is a pretty funny scene! It reads pretty quickly, so hang on! ( )

Heist Capers
Review of the Hard Case Crime paperback edition (2021) of the M. Evans hardcover original (1980)

I've run out of the Donald Westlake/Richard Stark Parker series of hardboiled noir novels but wanted to follow-up by reading several of the other books which established the prolific crime author's reputation. Castle in the Air is light fare and involves a multi-international team of heisters seeking to locate the loot of a (fictional) South American dictator who is smuggling it into Europe by having it hidden inside the stone wall bricks of a dismantled castle which is to be re-assembled as a world exhibition pavilion.

Each of the teams are from separate countries (England, France, Germany, Italy) and initially are working in league with a master planner who is cooperating with a freedom fighter to return at least a share of the loot to the beleaguered country. Comic antics ensue as each team attempts to heist the entire haul for themselves with predictable karmic results.

Other Reviews
There is an extremely detailed review and plot summary (with spoilers obviously) of Castle in the Air at The Westlake Review, December 22, 2015.

Trivia and Links
This edition of Castle in the Air is part of the Hard Case Crime (2004-) series of reprints, new commissions and posthumous publications of the pulp and noir crime genre founded by authors Charles Ardai and Max Phillips. GR's Listopia is not complete (as of August 2021) and the most complete lists of publication can be found at Wikipedia or the Publisher's Official Site. ( )

This book is written in a way that makes it sound as if the narrator is talking to you, like he is telling you the story. I think the casual tone and laid back way that things are said add to the humor of the situation. I also think that it is one of the reasons that the book is so easy and quick to read. Westlake has a knack for a good comic crime. And he makes watching this international group of thieves stealing a castle a lot of fun. The humor does get almost slap stick at times with all the people falling into canals and no one understanding anyone else because they all speak different languages, but it is also witty. The actual crime is not the end of the story here. You get to see it planned and then perpetrated but then you get to see after the crime where everything starts to fall apart. It’s fun to watch the group breakup and reform and morph along the way as you follow the money and try to figure out you is going to get what by the time everything is said and done. It’s an entertaining and quick story for anyone who likes a little fun with their crime. ( )

Paris, ca 1980.
Absurd historie om et kup, der skal udføres af 4 samarbejdende hold kriminelle. Den ene mere klicheagtigt skildret end den anden.
I Yerbadoro har præsidenten, Escobar Diaz McMahon Grande Pajaro Lynch, tænkt sig at stikke af med en solid bunke guld for folket er ved at være trætte af ham og konen, Maria Colleen San Salvador Porifirio Hennesy Lynch.
Der er en udstilling i Paris og Lynch skjuler penge og smykker i nogle udhulede store granitsten fra det slot, som han sender til Paris til genopbygning der.
En par rebeller, Lida Perez og hendes forlovede Manuel, har fået nys om dette og det samme har en forbryder Eustace Dench. Dench samler Herman Müller, Rudi Schlisselmann, Otto Berg, Sir Mortimer Maxwell, Bruddy Dunk, Andrew Pinkenham, Jean Lefraque, Renee Chateaupirre, Charles Moule, Rose Palermo, Angelo Salvagambelli, Vito Palone for at disse tilsammen kan nappe skatten.
Alle forsøger selvfølgelig at snyde alle de andre.
Gruppe A, tyskerne, finder skatten og stikker prompte af med den i en båd. De skjuler skatten, men gruppe C, franskmændene, finder den. Det ser gruppe D, italienerne, mens gruppe B, englænderne, stadig leder.
Gruppe C flytter stenene, hvilket D ser. Og så begynder det at gå galt.
Mortimer og Andrew kører i en stjålet London-taxi og bliver nappet af politiet. Bruddy og Charles kommer op at skændes og bliver nappet.
Rudi, Angelo og Vito, Eustace og Lida stikker af med stenene på en lastbil. Så stikker Eustace og Lida af fra resten kun for at blive overrasket af Hermann.
Lida og rebellerne ender at få skatten. Eustace får dog en klækkelig findeløn og bruger den på at købe en restaurant hvor alle de andre fra banden bliver ansat. Selv præsidenten slutter fred med oprørerne og alt ender i fryd og gammen.

Westlake får noget komik ud af at de fire bander ikke taler hinandens sprog overhovedet. Den slags er svært at oversætte uden at tabe komikken på jorden og det er da også mislykkedes her. Eller måske var det faktisk heller ikke morsomt på engelsk?

Bogen er dedikeret til skattevæsenet, så mon ikke det er et hurtigt skriveri fra Westlake's side for at slippe af med en skatterestance? ( )