Tough private investigator Max Thursday's first legitimate client, Dave Lee, was killed by a deadly gunman as he rode the ferris wheel in a bizarre amusement park. Thursday swore vengeance - and went on a violent manhunt through the tawdry glitter and eerie shadows of the carnival grounds.

But Thursday soon found that the boss of the gambling racket in San Diego had hired two vicious muscle men to stop him from finding the killer. He suspected that the high-pressure newspaper woman who offered to help him track down the gunman might be using her feminine wiles to lead him into a deadly trap.