Published by Dell in 1957, this thriller is MacDonald working at the top of his game in sordid, quick entertainment. Like a lot of his best books, this is multiperspective, as MacDonald explores the history, motives, and actions of a group that circle around a couple of grisly murders, and a heist gone wrong. There is no true protagonist, although there are good people. There's no love story (actually an oddity for MacDonald) but the pages fly by.
I just heard that Random House is re-releasing all of MacDonald's books, either in bound editions or e-books. This is amazing news. I had just resigned myself to the fact that MacDonald was disappearing from the public consciousness like cigarette smoking from bars. I hope he picks up a few new fans. He deserves them.
