New York-based private investigator Cass Blue is a morally flexible tough guy who backs up his hard-boiled rhetoric with frequent applications of the blackjack he carries in a hip pocket. No case is too seedy or sordid for him to take, and he's capable of taking as much as he dishes out when it's necessary. The cops don't trust him much more than they do the criminals, but that doesn't keep him from giving clients full value for their retainers. With the dubious assistance of speakeasy owner Al Lascoine, Cass sasses and slugs his way through a succession of Depression-era adventures. The Cass...

NYPD Lieutenant Martin Marquis and the officers of his hand-picked Broadway Squad are the toughest, most vicious cops in pulp-fiction history. "The Marquis," as he is called along Manhattan's Main Stem, is trim and dapper, with a weathered face and deep-set blue eyes. In marked contrast to the average plainclothes officer, he dresses like one of New York's "swells," generally showing up at crime scenes clad in smartly angled derby hat, black silk scarf, black kid gloves and shoes, dark suit, and ankle-length black Chesterfield coat. His appearance notwithstanding, the Marquis is practically a...

Bobby Chalker had spent a long time alone. Meeting Joanne in the supermarket started the kind of love affair that only comes along perhaps once in a lifetime. When that love was snatched away by the possible negligence of another person, Bobby's need for revenge burned brightly. Bobby had no means of getting revenge until an inheritance changed everything, money, cars, a house, now the vow that was made to Joanne could be fulfilled. But in every plan, there are hitches. Bobby couldn't foresee the problems that would hinder everything. Only military training and support from old comrades could...