In The Alternative Detective Sheckley once again creates a mystery with a comic heart. Hob Draconian, the Alternative Detective, is, in the tradition of Roger L. Simon's The Big Fix, an aging ex-hippie turned private investigator. Still suffering from the culture shock of returning to an America he never made, with a predatory ex-wife on his back and no prospects for work, Hob is wallowing in depression when his nephew brings him a new case. Five surfboards have gone missing on the island of Ibiza. Not the usual sort of case - but The Alternative Detective Agency isn't the usual sort of investigative firm. Draconian's international "staff, " mostly friends from Hob's hippie days, are spread all over Europe - including Ibiza. Hob's not in Europe long before he's got another case, this one more personal. A woman brings the news that an old buddy of his has disappeared in Paris. Accompanied by the attractive - and attentive - woman, Draconian journeys to Paris to search for Alex. This is no simple missing persons job - people are threatening Hob, and pointing guns at him, and generally making it clear that he's in way over his head. Hob Draconian has stumbled onto a real case, with real criminals. Organized crime, international drug trafficking, and Hob's version of the alternative lifestyle are not a good mix, but he's in too deep to get out.

Ex-hippie Hob Draconian returns to New York, where his only plans are to finalize his divorce and get the $10,000 he needs to pay off his mortgage, but he ends up in an adventure that could get him arrested or killed

Hob Draconian, American born but a two-decade resident of Ibiza and a tie-dyed-in-the-wool hippie philosopher, divides his time between Paris and Ibiza—and when Soma, a new drug, turns up in Paris in the hands of a murdered Ibizan drug dealer, it’s time for the Alternative Detective Agency to spring into action and defeat the crime syndicate that has infiltrated his beloved expatriate community. From the very beginning of his career, Robert Sheckley was recognized by fans, reviewers, and fellow authors as a master storyteller and the wittiest satirist working in the science fiction field. Open Road is proud to republish his acclaimed body of work, with nearly thirty volumes of full-length fiction and short story collections. Rediscover, or discover for the first time, a master of science fiction who, according to the New York Times, was “a precursor to Douglas Adams.”