Joe Hyams

A missile from parts unknown enters an orbit only 5 miles above Earth's surface and, due to friction from its intense speed through our atmosphere, proceeds to incinerate everything in its immediate wake.

The Humphrey Bogart story from the early '30s until his death, covering the period as a struggling young actor through movie stardom and his marriages to Mayo Methot and Lauren Bacall.

Two former comrades find themselves on opposite sides of the honesty fence. The real villains are corrupt government officials and big-business influence peddlers. Diplomacy goes out the window as arguments are settled with fist, foot, and crushed skulls.