Not your average crime tale at all. My first encounter with Sallis, and I have tucked him into the little appreciative corner occupied by crime writers who take the well-trodden path of noir-ish crime novel and nudge it along into somewhere unexpected. (Derek Raymond is another if slightly more twisted example) Note to self: Read more Sallis. There's something going on in there somewhere which might, just might, turn out to be kinda profound.