Authentic Police Cases #33

When bootlegger Dade Brady is gunned down in the Appalachian hills, his brother Young Sam Brady takes over the family still—not to continue the tradition, but to smoke out the killer. As Sam navigates the sordid underworld of mountain whiskey peddlers, he discovers a web of betrayal and moral compromise that points toward a single suspect bent on revenge.

In this 1954 true-crime account, we follow the ruthless rise of Harry "Happy" Maione from Brooklyn street punk to Murder, Inc.'s most prolific killer, tracing his brutal ascent through the criminal underworld from his first arrest for assault and robbery through his recruitment into the organization by Abe Reles. The story documents Maione's cold efficiency and sadistic nature as he carries out a series of murders for the mob, including an infamously brutal killing that leaves a victim with dozens of fatal wounds. As law enforcement closes in on Murder, Inc., the walls begin to crumble around even its toughest operator.

A young man from Chicago named Nick Usher arrives in the Southwest gravely ill, desperate for work and unwilling to seek help—but when his tightfisted boss fires him without pay, desperation pushes him toward crime. Rescued from a police sweep by three small-time thieves who see potential in him, Nick finds himself drawn into a string of armed robberies, discovering he has a talent for staying cool under pressure. As the heat from law enforcement closes in, Nick must face the consequences of the choices that began the moment his illness and anger got the better of him.

Criminals Flip Murtha, Vic Sayres, and Red Vezey force their way into Dr. Charles Blake's car after a botched bank robbery, taking the doctor and nurse Evelyn Simms hostage as they flee a five-state manhunt. Trapped with dangerous men who won't let them go, Blake must find a way to protect himself and his nurse while evading the police closing in around them.