Donald E. Westlake, writing as Richard Stark, offers the third Alan Grofield novel of suspense. Grofield is a part-time actor, but the rest of the time he's a thief. But in this advernture, no one is giving Grofield the privilege of being asked if he'd like to heroically die for his country.

Richard Stark was one of the many pseudonyms of Donald E. Westlake (1933-2008), a prolific author of crime fiction. In 1993, the Mystery Writers of America bestowed the society's highest honor on Westlake, naming him a Grand Master.