Raymond White had everything going for him: a top job with Parsons and Trout, a beautiful
girl friend, money and a potential candidacy for a high government office. Roger Williamson,
a dying congressman, asks him to deliver a letter to his mistress, Celeste Oliver. The
day after he delivers the letter Celeste is found murdered. Jealous rivals for his future
government job and for his girl friend frame him for the murder. Unable to prove his
innocence, he is convicted for the murder he didn't commit.
He spends the next 20 years in various maximum security prisons in the state of New
York. He is subjected to brutality and periods of solitary confinement. His latest prison,
Aubury Prison, is the worst in the system. Here he is befriended by art thief, Lester Cole,
who has been plotting an escape for years. Outside the prison Cole has a hidden cache of
unimaginable wealth. He had stolen one of the trainloads of the Nazi plunder of art treasures,
jewels and gold. Together they perfect their escape route. During their escape Cole is
killed in the turbulent waters of the escape river.
White survives; retrieves the hidden cache; reappears with a new face and name. With
this he has the power to make every one of his enemies pay: the District Attorney, now
a judge, Dean Villay, Bob Rangle, his political rival and chairman of the Democratic Party,
Frank Steffans, policeman who has married White's girl friend. His revenge is swift and
satisfying.
The plot is a modern version of Dumas' Count of Monte Cristo. The action is
fast. The story is full of suspense with the reader held captive by White's machinations
of his revenge. The scene of the escape from the prison by Cole and White is a breathtaking
one. One feels the rough and tumble of the river and their struggle to survive.
Highly recommended for an engrossing story of betrayal, revenge and redemption.