A mining operation could lead to an international incident: "I admire Philip Atlee's writing tremendously." -Raymond Chandler

Off the coast of Indonesia, the Japanese are harvesting an incredible amount of manganese, a mineral highly prized in the manufacturing community, from the ocean floor. The question is: how are they getting it-and how can the United States get a piece of it? The only man for the job is Joe Gall, but this seemingly simple assignment is about to go sideways . . .

This twist-filled adventure comes from the Edgar Award-nominated author who's been called "the John D. MacDonald of espionage fiction" (Larry McMurtry, The New York Times).

Philip Atlee (1915-1991) was the creator of the long-running Joe Gall Mysteries, which is comprised of twenty-two novels published in the 1960s and 70s. Born in Fort Worth, Texas, Atlee wrote several novels and screenplays-including Thunder Road starring Robert Mitchum, and Big Jim McLain starring John Wayne-before producing the series for which he is known. An avid flyer, he was a member of the Flying Tigers before World War II and joined the Marines after the attack on Pearl Harbor.