Marlowe's Drake series is always an easy, fun read. This is the fourth book in the series, following "The Name of the Game is Death," "Endless Hour," and "Operation Fireball." Although the first books in the series feature Drake as the toughest and most hardboiled of all criminals, by the time the fourth book rolled out, Drake was occasionally enlisted as a tough guy super agent. Although in the late sixties and early seventies, just about everyone tried their hand at creating their version of Fleming's 007, few were as successful at it as Marlowe.

This book has Drake's idyllic life in the ranch with redheaded Hazel interrupted by a terrorist hijacking and finds him jetting around the country to find the bad guys and also rescue a fallen angel from the crime-ridden city.

I found the writing to be crisp, the reading to be quick, and the story great fun. It was well-plotted and well-executed. Drake is a terrific shot with his .38, as smooth with the ladies as any agent anywhere, and simply balls-to-the-wall tough. A great action caper that builds to its inexorable climax.

You really won't go wrong in grabbing any of the books in this series. ( )

Exciting but drawn-out tale of Earl Drake, Marlowe's greatest creation, now reluctantly on the side of right, pursuing a mysterious gang who first had the temerity to hijack a gambling flight he was on, killing the crew, and now are planning some sort of truck hijacking. The story is not exactly plausible, and it takes a long time getting to the rather improbable climax, but it has some great scenes, and Marlowe must have had some quota for sex scenes he needed to fulfill. This is an odd book compared to the other Marlowe novels I have read, and it (being the fourth of a series) spends way too much time talking about what happened in previous books. Nevertheless, recommended. ( )