The first part of this novel, authored by Evan Hunter (Ed McBain`s pseudonym), details one night in the life of businessman and sex addict Ben Thorpe. On the last night of a business trip in Manhattan, Ben chats up women in a bar, has phone sex, and patronizes a brothel, from which he is ejected by an irate bouncer. The second part of the novel, authored by McBain, concerns detective Emma Boyle and fellow members of the NYPD. It`s the day after Thorpe`s night on the town, and a prostitute has been murdered. Thorpe is one of several suspects. The reader follows Boyle as she attempts to find the killer.