Want to Stay Alive? — James Hadley Chase

Poke Tohola, a Seminole Indian, is on to a smart racket. His formula is that fear is the key that unlocks the wallets and handbags of the rich. But Chuck, a cop-killer at 18, and Meg, beddable but dumb, don't work to formula. The three of them turn Paradise City into Panic City. Then Detective Tom Lepski lumbers in ... 'An old master on top form' Sunday Telegraph