Written under the pseudonym 'Eric Van Lhin,' this hard-boiled story of cheap grifters, Martian slums, and rampant crime featuring ex-cop Bruce Gordon.

This book presents a different take on the Mars settlement story - Mars is riddled with crime and political corruption that threatens the very existence of the colony. Bruce Gordon is exiled from Earth and dropped into the middle of the mess - as a newly assigned member of 'Security' - with little information to go on.

Bruce Gordon was an ex-fighter, ex-gambler, ex-cop, ex-reporter, and now he was an ex-patriot of Earth. Security shipped him to Mars with a knife, 100 credits, and a yellow card that meant no return.

He was also, he told himself, an ex-do-gooder. From then on he would take care of Number One! But in Marsport, nothing was that simple. Here the vices of Earth seemed tame and insipid.

When he bought a commission in the Marsport police force, he found that graft was not only a fine art, but the official Martian way of life. So he joined the system. And then he met Sheila, who was out for blood-his!