Now a Major Motion Picture Starring Brad Pitt

Jackie Cogan is an enforcer for the mob. When a high-stakes card game is heisted by unknown hoodlums, Cogan is called in to “handle” the problem. Moving expertly and ruthlessly among a variety of criminal hacks, hangers-on, and bigger-time crooks—a classic cast of misfits animated by Higgins’s hilarious, cracklingly authentic dialogue—Cogan gets to the root of the problem and, with five consecutive shots from a Smith & Wesson thirty-eight Police Special, restores order to his corner of the underworld.

This volume brings together the genre’s finest from the past year. With stories from mystery veterans and newly discovered talents, this thrilling collection is sure to appeal to crime fiction fans of all tastes.