"Down-on-his-luck drifter Wycliff has come to Los Angeles to scam his dying brother out of his estate. But as they get to know one another, having not been in contact for decades, the two brothers forge an unlikely bond. Just as he's planning to put his sordid past behind him, Wycliff meets a glamorous woman who offers him his first taste of the high life, and finds himself involved with a team of hustlers much more sophisticated and brutal than he is. Wycliffe begins to suspect he's being set up. But for what? He's about to learn the cardinal law of crime: there's always someone badder than you."--Jacket p. [2].