British private eye Chris Shovelin answers a call for help from a friend on the other side of the world. Arriving in San Diego he discovers Jefferson, the friend in need, lying on the floor of his apartment with a hole in his head. Shovelin's instinct is to run, but Jefferson’s client, the mega-rich China Heart, wants him to take over where Jefferson failed and find Jerry Lennox, her missing brother. From a dude ranch in the desert, to Los Angeles and San Francisco, the chase is on. But who is being hunted -- Shovelin or Lennox? Catastrophic plane crashes, extortion, drugs and murder all play their part in bringing about a tumultuous climax which makes any other thriller pale in comparison.

Julian Rathbone, twice nominated for the Booker Prize, had his first book published in 1967 and has now written thirty novels and one work of non-fiction. He has been translated into fifteen languages and has been awarded the Deutsches Kimi Preis and the Crime Writers' Association Macallan Short Story Award.

‘Rathbone will remind readers of vintage Graham Greene.’ Publishers Weekly
‘Highly intelligent; genuinely thrilling...Rathbone writes up a storm in precise and elegant prose which gives his adventure substance and tingling high style.’ Literary Review