The setting, characters, and situations recall LaBrava and other Leonard novels in which lawmen are at risk.

The plot, built around a chase, also is similar to that of earlier books, as far back as The Hunted; however, although the basic pattern is the same, Leonard has come up with still another variation for this novel. In the June 27/July 4, 1994, issue of The New Yorker, there is a Leonard short story, "Riding the Rap," whose main character is Raylan Givens, "the one the Mafia guy drew on last winter in Miami Beach — the two of them sitting at the same table, this marshal shot him dead." Finally, a Crowe from the Everglades is the first dead man in this novel, and he is part of the lawless family that figures prominently in Maximum Bob.