Donald E. Westlake’s Typical Vibe
Signature vibe

Highest-ranked title
Highest-ranked title
Donald E. Westlake has 3 titles in the CriticCrunch catalog across a career spanning the 1980s through the 2000s.
Recurring themes

Seemingly mild-mannered Henry Morrison has just murdered his entire family. After adopting a new identity and skipping town, he begins building a new relationship with a widow and her teenage daughter. However, he soon begins struggling to hide his true identity and maintain a grip on reality.
Dir. Joseph Ruben · With Terry O'Quinn, Jill Schoelen, Shelley Hack
Michael Harding returns home from military school to find his mother happily in love and living with her new boyfriend, David. As the two men get to know each other, Michael becomes more and more suspicious of the man who is always there with a helpful hand. Is he really the man of her dreams or could David be hiding a dark side?
Dir. Nelson McCormick · With Dylan Walsh, Sela Ward, Penn Badgley

A small-time conman has his loyalties torn between his estranged mother and his new girlfriend, both of whom are high-stakes grifters with their own angles to play.
Dir. Stephen Frears · With Anjelica Huston, John Cusack, Annette Bening