DiGriz is in the process of robbing the new Mint on Paskonjak when the heist goes terribly wrong.

Now the fabled futuristic criminal is back, in the long-awaited new adventure of intergalactic danger, intrigue, and-after a fashion-rock stardom. 'About this title' may belong to another edition of this title.Harry Harrison’s bestselling Stainless Steel Rat series has earned rave reviews and a legion of fans, and has catapulted the Rat himself, an antisocial rule breaker in an overcivilized world, to fame, if not fortune. The breakneck pace and DiGriz's offbeat interior monologue keep the plot airborne, and both SF hardcore and mainstream readers should find this an enjoyable adventure.Ĭopyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. Once there, the prefab four demonstrate their good humor and hand-to- hand combat abilities encountering the nouveau Vikings, fundamentalist Shepherds, troglodytes and even Feminist Separatists as they race the clock in search of the mysterious artifact. What better time, then, to start a rock 'n' roll band? Combing military service files for signs of both combat capacity and musical ability (DiGriz finds they are virtually incompatible) he assembles the Stainless Steel Rats band and proceeds to get himself and his three unlikely commando sidekicks (Steengo, Floyd and Madonette) arrested, sentenced and deported to the prison planet. Thus he agrees to retrieve an alien artifact from a prison planet occupied by assorted religious maniacs, TV junkies and Survivalist recluses. To acquire the antidote he must contract with his natural foe, the military types of the Galactic League.

This installment (following The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You! ) finds the con man/hero under sentence of death by slow-acting poison after he has (almost) robbed an impenetrable Mint. Even after four previous capers on the various planets of Harrison's high-tech (but recognizably hip) 25th century, the freshness of the author's language overcomes a somewhat predictable plot structure to make this outing by his favorite future antihero, Slippery Jim DiGriz, thoroughly entertaining.

The stainless steel rat sings the blues