Billed as "the most hard-boiled novel of the 1930s" and featuring one of the most brutal finales in crime fiction history, some say this lost 1933 masterpiece took hard-boiled crime writing too far. In the last days of Prohibition and the first days of the Depression, East Coast crime bosses are vying for control of Los Angeles. Caught in the middle of the intrigue is Gerry Kells, a former New York enforcer now living a life of ease on the West coast. As the fiercely independent Kells rejects the appeals of various crime bosses who want to make use of his talents, powerful forces align against him. Being framed for a murder turns out to be the least of his troubles and as the stakes get higher, and the odds get longer, it's only Kells' nerve and toughness that keep him one step ahead of the law—and the reaper.