Harry Harrison has entertained, amused and captivated readers of science fiction for more than a quarter century with his Stainless Steel Rat, James Bolivar "Slippery Jim" diGriz.
In his day, the Rat has saved the universe, foiled villains of every stripe and even run for president. Now, the Rat must avenge the murder of his mentor-in-crime, The Bishop. The trail leads to Nevenkebla, an island nation crawling with military fanatics -- on a world where no other country even has a navy, much less an army. Nevenkebla doesn't have any real enemies, but it's been in a state of military emergency so long that no one really remembers why. It's a place where generals run amok, where no one wants to be a soldier -- but everyone gets drafted. Nevenkebla is a land where paranoia rules, a nation that needs a war ... and it's sending an army out into space to start one.
Nevenkebla has the men to fight an interstellar war with, too. Men like Corporal Gow, a smarmy type, all smooth pink skin, with stubby fingers, a little mustache and a fake grin. Like Sergeant Klutz -- a obese pit bull of a man with a writhing face, beady red eyes and yellow teeth.
But worst of all is General Zennor, the nastiest, ugliest man in the ugly Nevenkeblan army. The kind of man who'd sell his mother into slavery -- not for the money, but just to see the expression on her face. A man with ambition. A man who wants a world of his own. The man who murdered The Bishop.
Zennor's trail leads the Rat right into the clutches of the Nevenkeblan draft board. Once in uniform, he discovers Zennor's plan to enslave a defenseless planet -- and he knows that only a man with his own special code of honour, only a Stainless Steel Rat, can save that world from the invading horde.