Cassidy is first and foremost an adventure novel. Heavily dependent on plotting and suspense devices, the novel moves quickly from incident to incident. The narrative is told from the point of view of Martin Gregory, and it achieves its impact from the sense of discovery and the impending doom that he feels as he learns the details of Cassidy's political empire. West devotes little attention to character development (minor characters are especially superficial) or to an examination of motives. Setting is suggested rather than detailed; West's interest lies primarily in exploring the events in which his protagonist is involved. Like many popular novels, Cassidy relies on the reader's acceptance of conventional morality regarding such issues as drugs and prostitution, and of the reader's often strong, if unexpressed, interest in power politics and sexual relationships.