Joe Wilmot can´t stand his wife Elizabeth. But he sure loves her movie theater. It´s a modest establishment in a beat-down town--but Joe has the run of the place, and inside its walls, he´s king. Without the theater, he´d be sunk. Without his leadership, the theater would close in a heartbeat. If it isn´t the life Joe imagined for himself, at the very least, it´s livable. Everything changes when Joe falls for the housemaid Carol, and the two can´t keep it a secret from Elizabeth. Elizabeth won´t leave Joe the theater unless he provides for her...but he´s put all his money into the show house. Carol and Joe´s only hope is the life insurance policies they´ve taken out on each other. If one of them were to be presumed dead, they´d have more than enough money to solve all their problems... No one knows murder better than Jim Thompson and in this incisive foray into the dark dealings of the mid-20th century movie industry, he doesn´t disappoint, in the riveting story of a love triangle gone horribly wrong, and just how far one man will go to hold on to a desperate dream.