After nine years in prison, thief Ben Garvald has been released, and he's headed back to the old neighborhood. His remarried ex-wife and sister-in-law aren't happy about it, and they've asked for police protection. Det. Sgt. Nick Miller, meanwhile, is hopeful; this may be an opportunity to finally locate the stolen money that was never recovered after Garvald's last heist. But a colleague of Miller's is jealous: He wants to crack the case himself, and will risk endangering everyone to do so.

Miller's highly unorthodox methods are perfectly suited for the graveyard shift, the midnight hours when the driven and desperate come out to play. Tonight, his toughest opponent will be Garvald--and only one of them will live to see the dawn.

From the author of such blockbusters as The Eagle Has Landed and the Sean Dillon novels, including Rain on the Dead, this is a hardboiled detective tale--originally published under the name Harry Patterson--in which the master of international intrigue focuses on one criminal, one cop, and a fast-paced cat-and-mouse game.