God Save the Mark (1967)

by Donald E. Westlake

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Average rating	Mentions
413	18	65,120	(3.64)	10
Fiction. Literature. Mystery. HTML: *This Edgar Award winner is a "raucously funny" novel of crime, con artists, and a poor sucker caught in the middle, by the author of the Dortmunder series (Kirkus Reviews).* If there is a scam operating anywhere, sooner or later it will find Fred Fitch. The pure-hearted, gullible man seems to get taken every time he turns around. At this point, he's been ripped off so many times he's got a regular contact at New York's bunco squad. Now Fred's late Uncle Matt, who he never even heard of before, has willed him $317,000. Along with the inheritance comes the devoted Gertie Divine, Uncle Matt's old friend who is all too willing to become Fred's new friend�and a host of other mysterious characters who are willing to get chummy with Fred in hopes of getting their hands on that fortune. But soon it's not just Fred's money that's in danger but his life, in this "high-spirited farce" (The Washington Post) by the master of comic crime fiction�starring a character the New York Times called "unforgettable . . . Everybody's favorite loser." "Masterful." �Publishers Weekly .… (more)

all members

▾Members

Recently added by

RDGlibrary, jayacarl, CastellumLibrandi, James_Schubert, DenyseHewitt, tristeham, ericandsue, christina_reads, buffalobibliophile, mysterymax

▾Tags

▾LibraryThing Recommendations

▾Lists

Top 100 Mystery Novels of All Time (93)

Edgar Award (168)

Best Crime Fiction (248)

▾Will you like it?

▾Conversations (About links)

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 10 mentions

▾Member reviews

date ▼ | votes

Showing 1-5 of 18 (next | show all)

Loved this. Laugh out loud funny. Fred Fitch is a walking _target for con men. He'll fall for just about anything. (

)

mysterymax | Jun 21, 2024 |

The main character, the “mark” of the title, is constantly being conned and never learning—until miraculously midway through this novel he starts to catch on. While there might be some merit to that premise, having that apply to the main character was more annoying that amusing. Thankfully, that annoying naivete falls away fast enough to let the rest of the novel shine through. My second Westlake after reading and thoroughly enjoying THE HOT ROCK. Humor is quite sly in parts and the female characters are particularly vivid and funny creations amidst the amusing mayhem and smart plotting. The ending was abrupt and a bit of a last minute information dump. I enjoyed the ending of THE HOT ROCK so much that I may be tad harsh concerning this work but that’s where we find ourselves. (

)

KurtWombat | Jan 8, 2023 |

Donald Westlake can bring to life some very funny people and situations. When I spotted the fact that this one bagged the 1968 Edgar I eagerly awaited delivery to my local library branch. I found it funny for about ten pages. Using a learned technique I skipped to about the last fifty pages. I was glad I had not decided to plow through it. I fear this plot has not held up over time. Fortunately Westlake was prolific and talented. I'd steer you away from this one, though. (

)

danhammang | May 16, 2019 |

When I first opened this book, I saw that there were 47 chapters in it and groaned. That seemed like a lot of chapters. Fortunately, they are short and snappy and immediately draw you in to the world of Fred Fitch, who is a lucky charm of sorts to con men. As one summary of the book says, he's like a human version of the Go space on the Monopoly board -- pass Fred Fitch, collect $200. Imagine, then, the danger he feels at learning that he's inherited a fortune from his long-lost uncle. The vultures will be circling. He'll have to learn to be suspicious and figure out who, if anybody, he can trust if he wants to keep his money.

This was a very funny book, if a bit embarrassing at points because of Fred's gullibility rearing its head. "Fred, stop DOING that! He's out to -- oh, you just signed the cheque, didn't you. Dammit!" Because it's so hard to figure out who to trust, the story twists and turns like mad, leaving you unsure of where you stand (other than with Fred). It may not be a laugh-out-loud novel, but it is certainly fun. (

)

rabbitprincess | Apr 25, 2016 |

Oh, this was fun! I admired Westlake after reading [The Ax}. Now, I am absolutely in love! (

)

BookConcierge | Feb 10, 2016 |

date ▼ | votes

Showing 1-5 of 18 (next | show all)

▾Published reviews

no reviews | add a review

▾Other authors

» Add other authors (3 possible)

Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Donald E. Westlake	—	primary author	all editions	calculated
Grimaldi Laura	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

▾Series and work relationships

Belongs to Publisher Series

Il giallo [Mondadori] (1194)

Is contained in

Manhattan Mysteries by Bill Pronzini

▾Awards and Honors

Awards

Edgar Award (Winner – Novel – 1968)

Distinctions

Anthony Boucher's Best Crime Fiction of the Year (1967)

Notable Lists

The Top 100 Mystery Novels of All Time Mystery Writers of America (094)

view history

▾Common Knowledge

You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.

For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.

Canonical title

God Save the Mark

Original title

God Save the Mark

Alternative titles

Original publication date

1967

People/Characters

Fred Fitch

Important places

New York, New York, USA

Important events

Related movies

Epigraph

Dedication

To Nedra

First words

Friday the nineteenth of May was a full day.

Quotations

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Carr, John Dickson

Original language

Canonical DDC/MDS

Canonical LCC

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English

None

▾Book descriptions

Fiction. Literature. Mystery. HTML:

This Edgar Award winner is a "raucously funny" novel of crime, con artists, and a poor sucker caught in the middle, by the author of the Dortmunder series (Kirkus Reviews).

If there is a scam operating anywhere, sooner or later it will find Fred Fitch. The pure-hearted, gullible man seems to get taken every time he turns around. At this point, he's been ripped off so many times he's got a regular contact at New York's bunco squad.

Now Fred's late Uncle Matt, who he never even heard of before, has willed him $317,000. Along with the inheritance comes the devoted Gertie Divine, Uncle Matt's old friend who is all too willing to become Fred's new friend�and a host of other mysterious characters who are willing to get chummy with Fred in hopes of getting their hands on that fortune.

But soon it's not just Fred's money that's in danger but his life, in this "high-spirited farce" (The Washington Post) by the master of comic crime fiction�starring a character the New York Times called "unforgettable . . . Everybody's favorite loser."

"Masterful." �Publishers Weekly

▾Library descriptions

No library descriptions found.

▾LibraryThing members' description

Book description

Haiku summary