Nameless had told Mitchell Krochek that he'd do whatever he could to find his missing wife, Janice. She'd run away before - propelled by a gambling fever that rose ever higher - and Mitch had always taken her back. This time, when Nameless, his partner Tamara, and the agency's chief operative Jake Runyon finally found her in a sleazy San Francisco hotel, she demanded a divorce. A few days later, a beaten and bloody Janice stumbled into the agency begging to go home. No one is surprised when, soon after her homecoming, she disappears again. With Janice missing again, Mitchell is the prime suspect, and as Nameless searches for the truth behind her disappearance, he uncovers a vicious racket that preys on gambling fever victims.

Bill Pronzini has published more than sixty novels, including three in collaboration with his wife, novelist Marcia Muller, and thirty-two in his popular "Nameless Detective" series. Pronzini has received three Shamus Awards, and six nominations for the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America. He lives in northern California.