This is the first in McQuay's great trilogy of adventures starring Matthew Swain, The 21st Century Private Eye, doing the hard-boiled noir thing in a future that's "running down like a dime store watch".. Ray guns, flying cars, corruption in high places and beautiful dames add up to a cool take on the genre. I wish I still had my copy of this, which I'd read back in high school but I lent it to the cafeteria lady and never saw it again.