When a phony count, a weird artist, and a dazzling blond beauty relentlessly dog his footsteps, hard-hitting private investigator Max Thursday knows his charming personality isn't the attraction. And as soon as he opens the box he is guarding and finds a hundred grand in cold cash, Thursday has the first clue to a mystery that leads the rugged sleuth headlong into a bloody fight-to-the-finish with a ruthless gang of international smugglers.