Murder by the Numbers

Max Allan Collins

Jan 2011 · Speaking Volumes

About this ebook

It is 1938, and Cleveland is threatened by a racially volatile gang war. The Mafia is moving in on the black mobsters who rule the Bucket of Blood, the notorious slum made famous by Chester Himes. The conflict is more than just villains fighting over turf. The black gangsters, who have had a lock on the city's numbers racket, have depended more on political connections and on the dreams they sold than on violence. It is the invaders who are bringing murder and mayhem in their wake.

As Director of Public Safety, Ness's job is not only to put a lid on crime itself. He must tread with extreme care in order to forestall violent war between the rival mobsters, a war that could escalate into an explosion between Cleveland's large black population and the almost entirely white police force and pols who rule the industrial city.

The balance is a delicate one and will require an individual both diplomatic and courageous. Collins realistically shows Ness to be that individual in this action-packed story rich with period flavor.

About the author

Max Allen Collins was born in 1948 in Muscatine, Iowa. He is a two-time winner of the Private Eye Writer's of America's Shamus Award for his Nathaniel Heller historical thrillers "True Detective" and "Stolen Away". Collins also wrote the Dick Tracy comic strip begining in 1977 and ending in the early 1990s. He has contributed to a number of other comics, including Batman. Collins created his first independent feature film, Mommy, following a nightmarish experience as screenwriter on the cable movie The Expert. Collins has been contracted by DC Comics to write three tie-ins to his critically acclaimed graphic novel "The Road to Perdition", which was adapted into the feature film. Author of other such move tie-in bestsellers as "In the Line of Fire" and "Air Force One", he is also the screenwriter/director of the cult favorite suspense films "Mommie" and "Mommie's Day".