A fun story of mayhem with a sophisticated accountant protagonist enticed into dealing cocaine and laundering money. Think in terms of the ’twenties and alcohol prohibition, only this is the ’seventies and cleverly begins with a little break-in at the Watergate complex. Ah, yes, if you had a large quantity of cocaine stashed in your Watergate office, wouldn’t you worry that they were at the wrong door? Nixon’s dramatic downfall is not only a delightful way that Tucker sets the era of this romp, but the president’s men also play a role in the plot. I love the publisher’s blurb: Tom Delaney’s life as a mob accountant is fairly normal until he runs into his old flame, Misty Vail.

To fully understand Tom’s relationship with Misty—to understand how Tom got into a life of crime—read first Aquarius Falling, in which we see Tom as a college boy falling into rough company in a racially-torn summer at Ocean City, Maryland. I suspect our hero will emerge, in a future volume, as a hired investigator on the international scene, possibly in partnership with Misty—but this is just my guess, perhaps wishful thinking.