Attorney Matthew Hope lies in a coma after catching two bullets to the chest outside a Calusa, Florida, bar. That he was anywhere near the seedy establishment is a bit of irony; he had recently taken a break from the criminal side of his practice after his last case made him question his instincts as a defender. Now it’s up to Hope’s friends and associates—PI pals Warren Chambers and Toots Kiley, law partner Frank Summerville, police detective Morris Bloom, and girlfriend Patricia Demming—to retrace the attorney’s steps and piece together just who wants him dead. The puzzling and sinister trail leads to a big Florida land deal, a kinky circus troupe, and a seductive woman—no taller than a yardstick—who’s been brutally killed. The answer to the riddle lies with Hope, who, even in unconsciousness, replays the events leading up to the shooting. But can he wake up in time to name the killer before someone puts him to sleep for good? From master of suspense Ed McBain comes a Matthew Hope series classic that opens with a bang—or two.