In 1926, during the Prohibition, Joe Coughlin defies his strict law-and-order upbringing by climbing a ladder of organized crime that takes him from Boston to Cuba where he encounters a dangerous cast of characters who are all fighting for their piece of the American dream. By 1926, Prohibition has given rise to an endless network of underground distilleries, speakeasies, gangsters, and corrupt cops. Joe Coughlin, the youngest son of a prominent Boston...

The irrepressible daughter of a two-bit gangster and a movie showgirl comes of age in golden-era Hollywood and a nascent Las Vegas before her beauty captures the attentions of one of the Strip's most powerful men.

"It is 1906, and in New York City, the Italian crime group known as the Black Hand is on a spree: kidnapping, extortion, arson. Detective Isaac Bell of the Van Dorn Agency is hired to form a special 'Black Hand Squad,' but the gangsters appear to be everywhere--so much so that Bell begins to wonder if there are imitators, criminals using the name for the terror effect. And then the murders begin, each one of a man more powerful than the last, and...

PI Spenser is hired to find the missing husband of a Boston gangster's daughter. The assignment leads him to the underworld in Las Vegas where he realizes the case is not one of young love, but control of the gangland in Boston.

Based on a true story, American Gangster is the story of two men: Frank Lucas, former driver, bouncer, and collector for Bumpy Johnson, the so-called Robin Hood of Harlem; and Richie Roberts, night-school lawyer, detective, and honest cop. Frank is importing heroin direct from Bangkok--by-passing the Italian and Sicilian mafia--undercutting their prices, delivering superior product, and making a fortune. Richie, loathed by cops on the take for turning...

In the 1920s, a ten-year-old newsgirl who aspires to be a reporter at the Chicago Tribune investigates the murder of a gangster.

An epic saga of organized crime in post-war America told through the eyes of World War II veteran Frank Sheeran, a hustler and hitman who worked alongside some of the most notorious figures of the twentieth century. Left behind by the world, former hit man and union truck driver Frank Sheeran looks back from a nursing home on his life's journey through the ranks of organized crime: from his involvement with Philadelphia mob boss Russell Bufalino to...

"The shocking death of a young woman leads Detective Dave Robicheaux into the dark corners of Hollywood, the mafia, and the backwoods of Louisiana in this gripping mystery from "modern master" (Publishers Weekly) James Lee Burke. Detective Dave Robicheaux's world isn't filled with too many happy stories, but Desmond Cormier's rags-to-riches tale is certainly one of them. Robicheaux first met Cormier on the streets of New Orleans, when the young, undersized...

1933. It is the fourth year of the Great Depression. For John Dillinger, Alvin Karpis and Baby Face Nelson, it is the golden age of bank robbery. After serving a ten-year prison sentence, John Dillinger embarks on a cross-country bank-robbing spree with help from his associates: faithful driver Red Hamilton, cocky lookout Homer Van Meter, and murderous hothead Baby Face Nelson. He relocates to Chicago, where he meets hatcheck girl Billie Frechette...

Los Angeles, 1949. Ruthless mob king Mickey Cohen runs the show in this town, reaping the ill-gotten gains from the drugs, guns, and if he has his way, every wire bet placed west of Chicago. And he does it all with the protection of not only his own paid goons, but also the police and the politicians who are under his control. It's enough to intimidate even the bravest, street-hardened cop, except for the small, secret crew of LAPD outsiders who come...