Four bandits hijack a New York subway train and demand a ransom for the passengers. Why did the criminals drive themselves into an underground trap? They clearly have some kind of cunning plan... The novel takes place against the backdrop of a carefully painted panorama of New York, immersed in the recession of 1973: unemployment, leftist groups, racial groups, streets that are scary to walk on in the evening, and a subway that is deadly even among of the day. John Gowdy is the pseudonym of the American writer Morton Freedgood (1913–2006), author of many bestsellers. The thriller "Dangerous Passengers on Train 123" (Taking of Pelham One Two Three) has been filmed several times.