In the great pantheon of crime books I have read in the last two weeks, I solidly place The man who refers to himself as Roy Martin between the one who calls himself Parker (the pinnacle) and the one who calls himself Nolan (the ordinary).This was a very sharp, tightly written, very hardboiled, mean, nasty brutish and short book. I really had a good time reading it and I suspect any fans of Parker will feel the same. Roy Martin is one seriously high toned son of a bitch. A mean bastard and colder than a dry ice enema. Roy is a hell of a protagonist and I'm glad to have read his story...even more glad never to have met him. I will definitely be reading more of his books though I have been led to believe the books get less and less as they go on. Roy Martin is not a guy I would want to underestimate though.