The Fugitive Pigeon

The Fugitive Pigeon

Rating

8.5

The Pequod Review:

While Donald Westlake had explored comic elements in earlier books, especially in The Mercenaries (1960), The Fugitive Pigeon represented his first outright comic novel. On behalf of his mob-connected uncle, Charlie Poole manages a money-losing bar in Brooklyn whose primary purpose is to serve as a drop location for mob-related deliveries. When two hit men unexpectedly turn up to kill Charlie, he finds himself on the run and trying to figure out why he was targeted. What follows is a fast and well-plotted book, with some of Westlake’s best (and funniest) characters to date.