The idea of a humorous thriller is to some extent a contradiction in terms, and there are few successful examples of the integration of comedy with suspense. Books such as Dashiell Hammett's The Thin Man (1934) and Richard Powell's Lay That Pistol Down (1945) utilized highly stylized upper-class settings as a means of distancing the impact of violence upon their somewhat fey heroes, but this cannot be done for the sort of average-guy protagonist Westlake presents in novels such as God Save the Mark. Fred Fitch probably has more in common with characters such as Cervantes' Don Quixote and Hasek's The Good Soldier Svejk, who also bring invincible ignorance to their struggles with a world shot through with corruption and deceit. Basically, however, Westlake's humorous thrillers are not part of any well-established literary genre, this being attested to by both the surprised enthusiasm with which they were greeted...