Tal Howard, a disillusioned Korean War veteran, breaks away from his old life, looking for answers and convinced he’s going to find them in the small town of Hillston. What’s in Hillston? Sixty grand in embezzled funds that Howard learned about from a dying friend in a POW camp.

Howard just needs to find out where the money is hidden and contend with another former POW who has come looking for it—Earl Fitzmartin, a psychopath they were all terrified of in the camp.Howard soon learns that the secret to the money’s location lies in the dead man’s past, which must be discovered through the women he knew, such as the respectable Ruth Stamm and the sultry and dangerous Toni Rassele.

Our edition comes with a biographical introduction, “The Two Sides of John D.,” and a bonus essay on the paperback revolution, “John D. MacDonald in Context.”