If you want to read a novel on organized crime, casinos and gang violence in Chicago, this book is for you. This is a story of personal redemption as well as human struggle in the form of grief, personal loss and demand for justice in which the fates of three main characters: a dedicated news reporter (Anderson), a crime mob boss (Giannini) and that of a detective (Brooks) are intertwined. None of them really live till the end, not even the mob boss, which really stresses the stark reality of such circumstances where human lives are not worth more than a few dimes to be honest.
It starts off with the murder of the reporter and the vigilante raids conducted by the detective to bring about justice and ultimately both he and the mob boss die in separate incidents, one after another. What really draws your heart in and in fact melts you from within is the relationship between his mentor, Larry McKay, and the young gang member he is training and helping to start a new life afresh. Of course, as you may have guessed, all doesn’t go well and tragedy strikes here again, but this relationship provides a much-needed counterpoint to the violent world of Chicago. Through his mentorship, Larry McKay hopes to redeem himself in his own eyes, thereby making it a story of personal redemption as I mentioned earlier.
It is a book you can finish in one sitting and if you want to read something enjoyable and interesting, then I would recommend that you go for it.