Mike Sloan is a jewel thief who has tired of being doggedly pursued by a cop. So he beds the cop's wife and sets her up to take the fall for his next heist. And that's only the beginning of the brutal, cat-and-mouse game, between cop and criminal, in this noir classic. "The book has a promising premise. It's revenge to the nth degree-cuckold the cop, further humiliate him by succeeding with the crime, then railroad his wife to prison. We're talking cruel. It's probably worth taking the plunge."