Westlake originally intended "The Hot Rock" to feature his character Parker and to publish it under his Richard Stark pseudonym. However, the plot involves a precious gem that is stolen, lost, reacquired, stolen again, lost again (and so forth), which seemed too comic a situation for a hard-boiled creation like Parker. Westlake therefore rewrote the novel with a more bumbling and likable cast of characters, led by a pessimistic, hard-luck professional thief. A neon sign Westlake spotted for DAB beer, spelled the acronym out to be "Dortmunder Actien Brauerei", which provided the name for the book's new protagonist.