When the telephone rang, Parker was out in the garage killing a man. Someone from his past had hired a soon-to-be-departed, would-be assassin--and Parker wasn't one to give a guy a second chance. But where there's one cockroach, a whole nest isn't far behind. Now, Parker's gotta keep focused on the project at hand: breaking into a computer mogul's compound to retrieve some priceless, purloined works of art. With new hit men on his tail and his cronies turning up the heat, Parker is feeling the pressure. Thankfully, he's always at his dead-on best when he's got a deadline.

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.