From Publishers Weekly
Life is always full of adventure for Jim DiGriz, the master criminal known as The Stainless Steel Rat, but this time he may be in over his head. After taking a job infiltrating a suspicious circus on a four million credit a day retainer, DiGriz finds himself and his family bound up, literally at times, in a planet-wide swindle. Someone is robbing banks and other sources of wealth using The Rat's good name while he dutifully performs his magic act under the big top. Soon DiGriz is hunted by endless factions of the police, his son Bolivar is jailed, his wife Angelina kidnapped, his formerly benevolent employer is getting more sinister by the hour and worst of all, The Stainless Steel Rat is actually losing money! In true space marauder fashion DiGriz outwits his enemy at every turn, or does he? "The dark forces" are never far behind and as the trickery and malicious blackmail get out of hand. DiGriz wonders if he and Angelina are getting a bit too old for this. As the book progresses, readers will wonder how many got-yous Harrison (The Stainless Steel Rat Goes To Hell) can fit in a clown car but his prowess as a ring master will shine through. After jumping through some spectacular hoops in this romp, DiGriz may be tempted to retire but hopefully Harrison, who turns 74 this year and who began writing about the Stainless Steel Rat in the early 1960s, won't.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
Following his frolic in Hell (The Stainless Steel Rat Goes to Hell, 1996), the eponymous Slippery Jim diGriz runs off to join the circus. Jim and his wife, the lovely and talented Angelina, are approached by Imperetrix ``Kaizi'' Von Kaiser-Czarski, the galaxys richest man (and, possibly, the oldestafter 40,000 years his memory's none too reliable). Kaizi's being robbed, systematically yet undetectably, and he's willing to pay four million credits per day (plus expenses) to catch the thief. Our slick duo's single clue: a circus was in town when each robbery occurred. It wasnt the same circus, but always on the bill was Puissanto, the Strongest Man in the Galaxy. To question him, Jim and Angelina must travel to the remote and uninviting planet Fetorr and its equally uninviting city of Fetorrscoria. Another splendid romp for Harrison's picaresque pair. --
Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
