Short Synopsis
An eclectic cast of characters populates this much-loved comic thriller by the author of the Edgar Award–winning The Butcher's Boy.

Full Synopsis
When Leroy "Chinese" Gordon breaks into a professor's lab at the University of Los Angeles, he's after some pharmaceutical cocaine, worth plenty of money. Instead, he finds the papers the professor has compiled for the CIA, which include a blueprint for throwing a large city into chaos. But how is the CIA to be persuaded to pay a suitable ransom, unless of course someone actually uses the plan to throw a large city into chaos—Los Angeles, for instance?

Assigned to cope with the crisis and restore the peace, veteran agent Ben Porterfield steps onto the scene to remind us that the CIA's middle name is, after all, Intelligence. Enlivening the mix are Gordon's beautiful girlfriend, Margaret, his temperamental cat, Dr. Henry Metzger, and Metzger's friend, an enormous half-wild dog with huge teeth.

"There are probably only half a dozen suspense writers alive who can be depended upon to deliver high-voltage shocks; vivid, sympathetic characters; and compelling narratives each time they publish. Thomas Perry is one of them." ---Stephen King

"In a word---wonderful!" ---Chicago Tribune

"Very sharp, very funny...should not be missed." ---The New York Times Book Review

"Thomas Perry is, quite simply, brilliant. And as each book comes out he becomes more so." ---Robert B. Parker

New York Times Bestseller