Description: "Hospitalized after a liaison with another man's wife ends in violence, Paul Cole has just one goal: to rebuild his shattered life. But with his memory damaged, the police hounding him, and no way even to get home, Paul's facing steep odds--and a bleak fate if he fails... This never-before-published novel by three-time Edgar Award winner Donald E. Westlake is a noir masterpiece, a dark and painful portrait of a man's struggle against merciless forces that threaten to strip him of his very identity"--
Review Quotes: PRAISE FOR DONALD E. WESTLAKE
One of the great writers of the 20th Century.--Newsweek The novel's deeper meditations will keep you thinking long after you've closed the book.--USA Today Elegant, melancholy... a significant final work from a master.--Publishers Weekly, starred review One of his most interesting books... absolutely a must-read.--Booklist, starred review Terse and bleak and low-key emotional... indelible.--Entertainment Weekly An unsparing look at a man adrift, it's a fitting final dispatch from a master.--Time A tour-de-force that shows a master at the top of his game.--Edward Champion, Philadelphia Inquirer Relentlessly involving.--Weekly Standard Among the best novels of his brilliant career. It is pure noir writing at its best.--BookReporter A great book... it outshines anything else Westlake has done.--Craig Clarke, Somebody Dies Compelling... bleak stuff - though always with a bit of hope shining through.--The Complete Review With the unveiling of his final unpublished novel [Westlake's] range and depth as a writer are only deepened.--Barnes & Noble This is an exceptional and painful book. It is the essence of noir... one man's unceasing, provocative struggle to make good in a relentlessly grim world... Our unanimous pick for the best genre book of the year.--PornoKitsch Few novels conjure up such a state of pervasive dread...This is the noir nightmare, plain and simple. I read it in a white heat.--Vince Keenan The most terrifying identity puzzle Westlake ever crafted, and it keeps you guessing all the way.--The Westlake Review A penetrating tale, a wonderful story.--Midwest Book Review