Mel Broward is a professional safe-hacker and currently in jail for crimes committed on behalf of the mafia.  Although his life in jail is no picnic, it could be worse. When someone shows up offering Mel a chance at parole in exchange for his services Mel jumps at the chance.  Still, Mel ends up in the middle of a quarrel that just might cost him his life.

Parole is a futuristic tale with a thin plot and little character development, sprinkled with a few sexual encounters of almost a clinical nature.  Mel is unsympathetic as his moral code is not clearly defined and rarely falls on the side of the line of good.  Also, the whole alien aspect of the tale is a mass of confusing facts that don’t really lead anywhere and seem more like filler within the narrative rather than important information for plot development.  In the end, there isn’t really a romance per se, but rather opportunistic sexual encounters that, if they lead to a romantic attachment it’s not evident by the end of the tale.  I would suggest passing up Parole as it isn’t really a romance or a particularly interesting or well written tale.