God Save the Mark
A Novel of Crime and Confusion
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Narrated by:
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Oliver Wyman
About this listen
What, you ask, is a Fred Fitch? Well, for one thing, Fred Fitch is the man with the most extensive collection of fake receipts, phony bills of sale, and counterfeit sweepstakes tickets in the Western hemisphere, and possibly in the entire world. For another thing, Fred Fitch may be the only New York City resident in the 20th century to buy a money machine. When Barnum said, "There's one born every minute, and two to take him," he didn't know about Fred Fitch; when Fred Fitch was born, there were two million to take him.Every itinerant grifter, hypester, bunk artist, short-conner, amuser, shearer, short-changer, green-goods worker, pennyweighter, ring dropper, and yentzer to hit New York City considers his trip incomplete until he's also hit Fred Fitch. He's sort of the con-man's version of Go: Pass Fred Fitch, collect 200 dollars, and move on.
What happens to Fred Fitch when his long-lost Uncle Matt dies and leaves Fred $300,000 shouldn't happen to the ball in a pinball machine. Fred Fitch with $300,000 is like a mouse with a sack of catnip: He's likely to attract the wrong kind of attention. Add to this the fact that Uncle Matt was murdered, by person or persons unknown, and that someone now seems determined to murder Fred as well, mix in two daffily charming beauties of totally different types, and you have a perfect setup for the busiest fictional hero since the well-known one-armed paperhanger. As Fred Fitch careers across the New York City landscape-and sometimes skyline-in his meetings with cops, con men, beautiful girls, and (maybe) murderers, he takes on some of the loonier aspects of a Dante without a Virgil. Take one part comedy and one part suspense and shake well-mostly with laughter.
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Dead Irish
- Dismas Hardy, Book 1
- By: John Lescroart
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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In his new life as a bartender at the Little Shamrock, Dismas Hardy is just hoping for a little peace. He's left both the police force and his law career behind. Unfortunately it's not as easy to leave behind the memory of a shattering personal loss - but for the time being, he can always take the edge off with a stiff drink and a round of darts.
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Soap-opera thrillers?
- By Snoodely on 01-27-10
By: John Lescroart
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The Case of the Velvet Claws
- Perry Mason Series, Book 1
- By: Erle Stanley Gardner
- Narrated by: Alexander Cendese
- Length: 6 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Married Eva Griffin has been caught with a prominent congressman, and is ready to pay the editor of a sleazy tabloid hush money to protect the politician. But first Perry Mason tracks down the publisher of the blackmailing tabloid and discovers a shocking secret, which eventually leads to Mason being accused of murder. This is the first Perry Mason mystery and our introduction to secretary Della Street, detective Paul Drake, and the great lawyer himself.
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Enter Perry Mason
- By David S. Mathew on 04-10-17
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A Grave Talent
- A Kate Martinelli Mystery, Book 1
- By: Laurie R. King
- Narrated by: Alyssa Bresnahan
- Length: 14 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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The unthinkable has happened in a small community outside of San Francisco. A series of shocking murders has occurred, the victims far too innocent and defenseless. For Detective Kate Martinelli, just promoted to Homicide and paired with a seasoned cop who's less than thrilled to be handed a green partner, it's a difficult case that just keeps getting harder. Then the detectives receive what appears to be a case-breaking lead.
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Another Fantastic Series by Laurie R. King
- By Anna on 03-29-15
By: Laurie R. King
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Until Proven Guilty
- J. P. Beaumont Series, Book 1
- By: J. A. Jance
- Narrated by: Gene Engene
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Lurking in the dark corners of J. P. Beaumont's bizarre case was not just a demented mind obsessed with murder, but secrets so deadly that even a street-tough cop could die guessing.
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Until proven guilty
- By Jean on 04-21-11
By: J. A. Jance
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A is for Alibi
- A Kinsey Millhone Mystery
- By: Sue Grafton
- Narrated by: Mary Peiffer
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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This is the first in the popular series featuring California investigator Kinsey Millhone. She's 32, twice divorced, no kids, an ex-cop who likes her work...and who works strictly alone!
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No More for Me
- By Robin on 07-12-08
By: Sue Grafton
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A Certain Justice
- By: John Lescroart
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 15 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Somewhere in the once-placid streets of San Francisco, a young man is on the run, charged by the media with a crime he didn't commit, hounded by demagogues, hunted by a desperate police department. One cop knows that Kevin Shea is innocent of a brutal racial murder. An ambitious politician will use Shea for her own ends. And a down-and-out lawyer is all that stands between Kevin Shea and an even more atrocious crime. For when there's no law left, justice is the only hope.
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Race riots ... in San Francisco?
- By Snoodely on 02-10-10
By: John Lescroart
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The Good Friday Murder
- A Christine Bennett Mystery, Book 1
- By: Lee Harris
- Narrated by: Dee Macaluso
- Length: 6 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Christine Bennett has left the cloistered world of nuns for the profane world of New York State, where murder and madness are often linked. At a town meeting, Christine volunteers to investigate a 40-year-old murder case long since closed. Now she'll move heaven and earth to exonerate a pair of retarded savant twins, now senior citizens, of their mother's murder on Good Friday in 1950.
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Polite procedural cozy
- By connie on 12-29-12
By: Lee Harris
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New York Dead
- Stone Barrington, Book 1
- By: Stuart Woods
- Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Everyone is always telling Stone Barrington that he’s too smart to be a cop, but it’s pure luck that places him on the streets in the dead of night, just in time to witness the horrifying incident that turns his life inside out. Suddenly he is on the front page of every New York newspaper and his life is hopelessly entwined in the increasingly shocking life (and perhaps death) of Sasha Nijinsky, the country’s hottest and most beautiful television anchorwoman.
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Ridiculous
- By laall on 11-11-13
By: Stuart Woods
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The Sins of the Fathers
- By: Lawrence Block
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 5 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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The hooker was young, pretty...and dead, butchered in a Greenwich Village apartment. The prime suspect, a minister's son, was also dead, the victim of a jailhouse suicide. The case is closed, as far as the NYPD is concerned. Now the murdered prostitute's father wants it opened again--that's where Matthew Scudder comes in.
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Good introduction to a popular series
- By Sharron on 12-26-11
By: Lawrence Block
What listeners say about God Save the Mark
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Darryl
- 12-26-11
Westlake always good
Where does God Save the Mark rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
I have to separate my books like Graham Greene into Entertainments and Serious Lit. As far as E's go this one is funny, particularly the beginning which had me laughing while listening. Westlake has some great comic crime novels and i like returning to him. The Dortmunder series is very funny, though I wish the audio's read by Tom Parker were available here soon, he reads Dortmunder perfect.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Main character is very good.
What about Oliver Wyman’s performance did you like?
Wyman's reading is good, though as I said, I think the Westlakes from Books on Tape that Tom Parker reads are a perfect match.
If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?
To paraphrase the Who,
Any additional comments?
Westlake always fun, and he writes serious hard crime novels as Richard Stark.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Jonathan S.
- 03-23-24
Great,
One of the best audio books I have ever listened to. Humorous, unexpected twists. Great "whodunit." Excellent narrator.
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- J. Howlett
- 05-07-12
Good fun
Where does God Save the Mark rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
Near the top. Bank Shot will always be my favorite, but God Save the Mark was also pretty great. Donald Westlake finds a way to make every crime worth laughing about.
What was one of the most memorable moments of God Save the Mark?
When Harry realized that someone had been shooting at him
What about Oliver Wyman’s performance did you like?
Great voices for each of the many characters
If you could take any character from God Save the Mark out to dinner, who would it be and why?
Donald Westlake. I want to know where he gets his ideas.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Judith A. Merritt
- 11-22-11
Not one of he best.
The premise is good, the story isn't told with the usual fun and crazy characters.
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- Kelly Howard
- 03-24-13
somewhat strange book, hard to assign stars to
I've been a fan of Westlake's Dortmunder books forever, and I think Oliver Wyman is an outstanding reader, so I went into this book with nothing but good expectations. What I came out of it with is...confusion & some disappointment. I knew Fred Fitch wasn't John Archibald Dortmunder, but at the beginning of the book he seems like John's spiritual cousin; another mild, likeable but sad sack, this guy on the receiving end of crime instead of the committing end. He's a mark for the Universe, a gullible sucker for any con man that comes within a mile of him. He falls for cons all the time & con men seem to smell it and practically line up at his door. And he always opens the door for them.
The book starts out reminiscent of Dortmunder in another way; it's quite funny & lighthearted and even if Fred is getting ripped of every time he turns around, it's not mean-spirited, and they're small amounts of money that don't leave you concerned that he's going to get tossed out into the street. Fifteen dollars was certainly worth more when the book is set than it does now, but Fred isn't facing financial ruin so we can laugh at his gullibility and misfortune without feeling mean.
But then Fred inherits over $300,000 from an uncle he didn't know existed (which he initially thinks is another con) and the book gradually turns darker. Some people get dead, and while it's not gory at all, there's fewer yucks when there's real corpses sitting around...tho heaven knows, as a lifelong fan of horror & murder mysteries, I'm not bothered by corpses per se. I guess what got me was the deterioration of Fred's character; he starts out knowing he's a gullible yutz and he has a sense of humor about it, a sort of amused exasperation at himself (which is shared by his friend Riley of the Bunco Squad...they've interacted so many times over the years that they've become fast friends, which is pretty funny in itself).
But Fred really gets bitter and loses his sense of humor entirely as the book progresses. Not to say I blame him, really --it seems somebody is trying to kill him, & various strange & deadly things are happening around him because of the money-- but the book just wasn't funny in the second half, maybe started turning grim about 1/3 of the way through.
If you've never read Westlake, I'd very strongly recommend not starting here; try any of the Dortmunder books (with the mammoth exception of the “Drowned Hopes” audiobook read by Arte Johnson; it is beyond hideous, past unlistenable, is so bad that all associated with it should be imprisoned). The first Dortmunder book, “The Hot Rock,” is terrific. So are the others…”Bank Shot,” “The Road to Ruin,” etc. They’re also well read, as is this one.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Sue
- 02-14-12
Enjoyable Westlake humor
Would you consider the audio edition of God Save the Mark to be better than the print version?
I always prefer the audio version of any book.
What was one of the most memorable moments of God Save the Mark?
When the hero turns and starts to fight back
What three words best describe Oliver Wyman???s performance?
He was good, but not as good as the reader in Westlake's earlier books.
If you could rename God Save the Mark, what would you call it?
There's a sucker born every minute
Any additional comments?
This book is true Westlake. Delightful humor, good story and marvelous characters. New York is the perfect setting for this story.
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- Paul Marquardt
- 07-18-22
Not bad and entertaining
I enjoyed the story well enough, but the writing was only OK. I can't count the number of times I heard "he said" or "she said". After reading a Tom Robbins book, the characters and the language came across as shallow and lacking in color. Still, it was a fun mystery.
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Overall
- Regina
- 06-23-10
Bad Donald Westlake
I love Donald Westlake, but this is a dud. Main character meant to be comically thick is instead dull and unbelievable. Good reader, but keep your Westlake memories unsullied by this one.
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2 people found this helpful
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- William R.
- 09-06-11
American Gods for the Grifter set!
Fred Fitch is just a normal guy who is constantly swindled by nearly every grifter, con man, con woman and thief in New York City. The main character is Fred who gets sucked up in a series of situations after having received $300K following his Uncle's death.
Not quite a comedy but very funny, not quite a drama but with dramatic moements and not quite a thriller this book is an interesting meditation on a single person and his growing awareness of those people around him.
While a completely different read than American Gods, I kept thinking how similar these two books are with the fish-out-of-water-but-just-going-with-it style. I listened to this story on audiobook and thought Oliver Wyman was an excellent choice.
Whether a fan of Donald E. Westlake or not, I would highly recommend this book.
-Bill
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4 people found this helpful
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- Alex
- 07-11-23
fun mystery
gullible protagonist inherits money from corrupt uncle fun twist I didn’t expect, held my interest, entertaining characters. good performances. Amusing but not laugh out loud funny.
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