Like a Hole in the Head is a 1970 thriller love story novel by British writer James Hadley Chase.

[1] Ace marksman Jay Benson lives a retired life from the army with his beloved wife Lucy, and starts a school for training in firearm shooting.

Unfortunately they fall short of money, when Augusto Savanto walks into their lives, promising Jay a huge sum of money in return for teaching his son Timoteo, who is totally uninterested in shooting.

Benson agrees but soon realizes that he has entered a circle of revenge and murders involving mafias, in which he must participate, else it could affect both Lucy and him.

1 (Russian: Госдача №1) in Nizhnyaya or Lower Oreanda (Russian: Нижняя Ореанда) on the southern coast of Crimea next to the Livadia Palace, is based upon Like a Hole in the Head.