"A man cannot stay forever on his hands and knees in a wet park in the middle of London, howling and moaning and talk- ing to himself. Sooner or later, someone is going to object." John--he thinks that s his name is living in an enforced constant present tense, watching himself as if in a story travel through the vilest parts of a large city, heading for some mission, prepar- ing to kill. He can feel his mind unravel- ing. He is looking for a girl named Pen- ny, and waiting for his brain to tell him what to do when he finds her. John s wife Helen, who looks rather like Penny, is living in the country. She is depressed because herhusband has left her, bored with Suburban life, and somehow she too is quite capable 6f murder. At a crucial moment, local lover- boy Martin comes to call Ticket to Ride poses in details of gr6wing horror the violence of a degenerating mind, and the equally hor- rifying degeneration of a marriage. Short, powerful, and compelling, it is a chilling and unforgettable mystery.