Donald Westlake, as we experienced, he is one of the most prolific and versatile crime novelists of the twentieth century, occupies a unique place in American literature. He writes under his own name and several pseudonyms, including Richard Stark, Westlake expanded the boundaries of crime fiction by blending suspense, satire, comedy, and moral ambiguity. This paper investigates Donald Westlake’s contribution to American crime fiction, emphasizing his portrayal of crime not merely as an act of illegality but as a mirror of human behaviour, social structures, and cultural anxieties. His narratives range from hard-boiled noir heists to farcical capers, often interrogating the complex relationship between criminals, society, and justice. This paper explores Westlake’s narrative craft with a special emphasis on his ability to portray the “many faces of crime” not merely as acts of illegality, but as reflections of human psychology, economic pressures, and social contradictions. By analysing major works such as The Hunter, The Hot Rock, and The Ax, the study highlights Westlake’s innovations in character development, narrative voice, genre-blending, and his subversion of traditional crime-fiction tropes. The paper also situates Westlake’s contributions within the larger framework of American crime writing, drawing comparisons with contemporaries such as Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and Elmore Leonard. Westlake destabilizes conventional genre boundaries and raises questions about justice, capitalism, and the psychology of criminal behaviour. Ultimately, this paper argues that Westlake’s oeuvre exemplifies the “many faces of crime,” positioning him as both an innovator of crime fiction and a commentator on American cultural anxieties. The findings reveal that Westlake’s true artistry lies in his ability to oscillate between dark realism and comic absurdity, thereby reshaping crime fiction into a genre of moral inquiry and social commentary.