Fast-talking, hard-living politicians, priests, smugglers and thieves play the game of the Boston streets in George V. Higgins' The Patriot Game. Federal agent Pete Riordan is as tough as they come; he's six-foot-four with a bad knee and a mean temper, but his commitment to his job is beyond exemplary. When he is called upon to find the man delivering arms to the I.R.A. he takes to with gusto. Little did he know it'd be such a guessing game; bar proprietor Digger Doherty is rumored to have leads, and convicted killer Mikey-Magro serving time in Walpole certainly knows more than he lets on. But no one is coming forward and time is running out, and why is Mikey-Magro being released from jail prematurely anyway? Teeming with unlikely characters and fiery dialogue that propel the plot to break-neck speed, The Patriot Game is nothing short of a George V. Higgins masterpiece.