Lawrence Sanders is the author of more than thirty crime novels, and several of his books have been adapted for film. This book is the first of his so-called commandments series, in which he builds the plot around the Ten Commandments of the Bible. The book's protagonist, who starts working as a messenger for a law firm, is strikingly small in stature, but has a sharp mind and a pleasantly human attitude towards the world around him. He ends up investigating the reasons behind an apparent suicide and tracks down criminals manipulating religion.