Crime Must Pay the Penalty #18

In 1951 San Francisco, Big Steve Hollis transforms himself from a rough fisherman into the ruthless "Tiger Shark" of the waterfront by unleashing terror and violence on the harbor's independent skippers and merchants. Using sabotage, intimidation, and brute force, he builds a sprawling criminal empire that extorts protection money and controls every aspect of the fishing trade. When one of the harbor's biggest wholesalers refuses to bow to his schemes, Big Steve's reign faces its first real test.

Rufus Bork and his ruthless gang terrorize Knox County with a string of robberies and murders that leave law enforcement frustrated and outmatched—until Sheriff Fuller finally catches a break when a bullet-riddled car turns up at a service station. Fuller moves fast to apprehend Bork, but the cunning criminal's capture may be just the beginning of a much bigger problem.

Jimmy La Rue, a smooth-talking gambler who's built a thriving casino on Chesapeake Bay through honest play and class, refuses when a mob boss named Kelly offers him "protection" and a cut of the profits. When Kelly returns with force to rob the establishment and leave Jimmy ruined, La Rue spots an opportunity for revenge in the chaos—and plans to intercept the mob's payoff before Kelly can collect his blackmail money. What follows is a high-stakes game of his own making, where Jimmy learns that sometimes the safest play means taking the biggest chance.

Charlie "Two-Gun" Baker basks in the notoriety of his headline-grabbing crimes, trading his wife and legitimate life for a partnership in a glitzy night club and a lucrative spree of robberies and killings. When police close in, Baker's trigger-happy nature forces a confrontation that leaves him on the run—but his overconfidence blinds him to how every shot he fires leaves ballistic evidence that could finally prove his guilt. As the net tightens around the hoodlum, his luck inches toward its reckoning.