Outskirts Press, INC.

CHICAGO, 1991. A LOW-LEVEL BAGMAN’S SKIMMED PAYOFF EARNS HIM A GRISLY DEMISE

Organized crime has moved insidiously into the ever-expanding, highly lucrative health-care industry: a new dental school becomes a front for money laundering, and the American Dental Society’s vehement opposition to its accreditation is countered by a big-money defamation suit. Enter attorney Tony Jeffries for the defense. His task: to prove that Bill O’Coogan, a prominent, powerful Chicago businessman and philanthropist, is in fact in cahoots with it all. His obstacles: terrifying threats to his family, a midnight home invasion, car bombings, a mob don “retired” to Arizona pulling the strings from offstage. Scenes vividly set in the gritty bars, back alleys, and towering high-rises of Chicago—from the Billy Goat Tavern to Wrigley Field to glittering Lake Shore Drive—culminate in an edge-of-the-seat trial, with Jeffries up against the money, the odds, and a super-slick plaintiff’s attorney. Expertly crafted by the acclaimed author of The Dance of the Sharks and The Sting of the Blue Scorpion—a kind of prequel to the one and sequel to the other, but standing firmly on its own—this fast-paced thriller will grip you till the last page has been turned and the last body uncovered.