The Parker novel par excellence, returning to the setting and the abandoned money of Slayground and calling on old friends from many of the previous novels. Professional criminal Parker's having a bad streak with jobs going bad or turning up empty, leaving his funds dangerously low. With partner Grofield he goes back to the town where he robbed an armoured car, but was forced to stash the take. The take is gone, and Parker sets out to find. At first, it seems like a variation on The Man With The Getaway Face, as Parker and Grofield put pressure on a local mob by robbing their various joints, but with a takeover being mounted behind the scenes, things soon go badly wrong, Grofield is shot, Parker loses patience, and it all ends in a massive series of heists and an explosion of ruthless violence. The Parker books went on a long hiatus after this one, and it's easy to see why. In a series of brilliant, brutal crime novels, this is definitely a high point.