Harry Harrison has entertained, amused and captivated readers of science fiction for more than a quarter of a century with his Stainless Steel Rat - one James Bolivar diGriz aka Slippery Jim'. In this all new adventure, Slippery Jim diGriz and his beautiful wife, Angelina, are on Usti nad Labam, taking the opportunity for a little light-fingered play on the stock market. Out for a picnic the local robot police shoot their hoverfloat out from under them. Or so it seems. In fact the robots are the minions of one Imperetrix Von Kaiser-Czarski - the richest man in the galaxy - and he's got a contract for hire in his hand. Someone has been emptying his banks and his willing to pay to put things right. He may have come to just the right man.