This is book 2 of the "Travis McGee" series.

This note contains spoilers for the book.

The second McGee book. I probably have read this before, but since I don't remember it at all, I'm not claiming it. One of the worst covers ever committed in the history of the paperback, too. (Yes, I seem to have ended up reading them slightly out of order.)

Note the copyright dates. The first four of the McGee books all came out in 1964. The first two are listed here as having come out in May 1964. Pretty fast work!

In this one, McGee gets locked up for a while in a mental hospital. They plan to use psychadelic drugs, and eventually lobotomy, to make him not a problem for them anymore. He doesn't like this, and eventually escapes, killing 5 people along the way.

That's the same technique they're using to separate the rich man from his many millions. And the murder that really started the whole process off wasn't even committed by the criminals.

It's revealed that McGee was a Sargent previously. His client is the younger sister of an old war buddy -- who's permanently disabled because McGee got to go on leave and missed the attack.