Onyx reviews: Call Me a Cab by Donald E. Westlake

Reviewed by Bev Vincent, 7/23/2022

There are crime novels and there are suspense novels. The latter generally revolve around a crime or a potential crime as well, but Donald Westlake has figured out how to write one without anything being stolen or anyone being murdered.

When NY cabbie Tom Fletcher is flagged down by a comely young woman carrying suitcases, he mentally prays she wants to go to Kennedy airport, which represents a lucrative fare. In fact, that's exactly where she wants to go. Soon, though, Tom worries there's something wrong with his fare. She's talking to herself like a crazy person, so he asks her if she's considering jumping from his cab.

This opens the floodgates. Katherine Scott explains that she is on her way to Los Angeles. By the time she gets there, she has to decide if she is going to marry Barry, her long-time plastic surgeon fiancé. She spots the notice in the cab about out-of-town fares and decides she needs more time to consider her answer to Barry's proposal. She asks Tom if he will drive her to L.A. Although he is surprised by the request, a rate is negotiated, along with conditions. She will pay for his hotel and dinner in addition to the $4000 fare.

Thus begins a cross-country road trip that takes the unlikely duo mostly across the northern tier of states (it's summer and the cab has no A/C). At first, the status quo remains in place—he's the hired employee and she's the customer—but as Katherine reveals more and more about her dilemma, the relationship changes. With nothing but time on their hands and plenty of dead air to fill (the cab doesn't have a radio), they start talking about life. Tom has been married, so Katherine grills him about what that was like for him. Katherine has a successful career whereas Tom's professional life seems stalled. They gradually discover they like each other. Unrequited sexual tension emerges from time to time, but Katherine is steadfast, refusing to give in, despite forward moves by the cabbie.

Every night they stop at a Holiday Inn, their rooms virtually identical from state to state, and dine in the hotel restaurants. They have some interesting experiences along the way, including delivering a pregnant woman to the hospital and a wild night as captive guests of an aging alcoholic duo who seem patterned after Nick and Nora Charles of the Thin Man movies. Katherine also relates the plot of a short story she wrote in college during her more strongly activist days—an imaginative, futuristic tale of a world where men become unnecessary and how women might adapt to that new social structure.

Tom is a man slightly ahead of his time, unthreatened (mostly) by a strong, capable and (mostly) decisive woman. They encounter some 1970s prejudices when hotel receptionists and restaurant waiters can't figure out their platonic relationship and struggle to accept that Katherine is the paying customer. Tom gently corrects these errors, turning their attention back to Katherine. However, he's not a saint, and a scene where Katherine deals with one of her employees has him digging deep into his own hidden prejudices.

Barry is, understandably, dismayed by her news of a week-long delay in her arrival. She calls him every day (from roadside payphones, feeding in coins from Tom's change box). However, Katherine can find no fault in the man, as she lays out his strengths to Tom. Why, then, is she conflicted? This is the primary source of suspense in this novel, written in the late 1970s by an author known for his crime novels and capers. It is not a crime novel (Tom admits to speeding from time to time), but readers will be propelled by the narrative, the witty, smart banter, and the ultimate question of will-they or won't-they / will-she or won't she?

The closer they get to California, the more frequently tensions rise between Tom and Katherine, leading them to bicker like the stereotype of an old married couple. For his part, Tom doesn't want their journey to end, as it almost does on a few occasions. And for her part, Katherine knows that the end of the trip means she could be embarking on a new life.

Put two strangers together in an enclosed space and force them to talk to each other for a prolonged period and interesting things are bound to emerge, especially in the hands of a veteran and skilled writer like Westlake.