The detective here, Rhyme, is such a crybaby. What's supposed to come off as his special 'brilliance' is actually bleeding freakin' obvious stuff. "Wow, Lincoln," you'll say, "You figured that all by yourself!" You'll feel sorry for him and the other sorry characters. You'll gaze through ENORMOUS HOLES in the plot and see the starry sky. RECOMMENDED FOR THE WEAK-MINDED.

Predictable. Non-satisfying climax. There are a couple of characters that are so positively dumb, you just want to slap the sh** out of them. Don't base your opinion of Rex Stout on this book. It reads fast but you'll just end up frustrated with the events.

I was humming the tv show theme the whole time. If you enjoy GI Joe book and records, or Hardy/Nancy Drew books, grab this book. It's got PIRATES "Arrrg!", TREASURE "Oooh", BOOBYTRAPS "Yikes!" But man, it let's you down. Great setup, and the the whole damn souffle falls flat.