An odd book in which the protagonist -- a gangster cum revolutionary -- is forced, or so he thinks, to dehumanise himself further and further in order to survive. It is not so much about the ends versus the means as it is about whether the game is worth playing at all. The setting is of the torture porn variety, and I suspect Spinrad was trying to write The Iron Dream when he wrote this. I think that book makes Spinrad's point better, and that he should try to let this one go quietly out of print. ( )