Set at the height of the Cold war just as the first men were about to land on the moon, Joe Clinton is a broke, divorced, alcoholic, ex-journalist living in Tangier, Morocco who suddenly finds himself in possession of a top-secret Russian-made submarine tracking buoy. This piece of fortune seems to signal the end of all his money worries. Clinton enlists the help of a friend George Briggs and initially tries to sell the buoy to the CIA. However, the Americans baulk at his asking price so he approaches the KGB in the hope that they will make him a better offer. By playing both sides Clinton suddenly finds himself a meddling amateur stuck between two powerful and ruthless organisations that endangers all that he holds dear.

In many respects this is a very simple plot with a main character who is pretty selfish and not particularly likeable however it runs along at a pretty relentless pace which is helped rather than hindered by its simplicity. It was also rather pleasing to see the Americans coming out of it fairly poorly for a change. On the whole it was a reasonably enjoyable read but as with so many in this genre not one that will live long in the memory. ( )