Charles E. Alverson Libri

San Francisco police detective Joe Goodey has all the luck.Bad.Not only does he accidentally shoot an elderly janitor, but his perforated victim turns out to be the mayor’s cousin. This costs Joe his badge and earns him an invitation to get out of town immediately—or else. But no sooner has Joe done so, than he is jerked back, issued a private eye’s license and ordered to find out who iced Tina D’Óro—North Beach’s topless go-go queen and the mayor’s ‘special friend,’ who left a red-hot diary capable of torpedoing hizzoner’s political career.Given less than no time to work miracles, Joe sets off on a ricochet course with more bumps than the hilly streets of San Francisco. A bizarre cast that includes Chinatown’s premier junior hoodlums, a mad plastic surgeon, Tina’s wannabe successor, a retired mobster with paternal longings and worse keeps Joe hopping on an assignment that constantly threatens to become Mission Impossible.An adventure that The New Yorker called “the next best thing to finding a new and unsuspected Raymond Chandler phantasmagoria,” this is a hard-boiled mystery that might just end up being Joe Goodey’s last.

"You don't want to buy me. I'll kill the man who buys me." Despite that outrageous threat, plantation owner Boyd Jardine buys Caleb and puts him to work in the fields. But soon Jardine discovers that his new slave is both better educated and more widely traveled than himself. When Jardine's pregnant wife dies and Caleb saves the unborn child, Jardine grows increasingly dependent on him not only as a servant but also as a companion--and so their relationship as master and slave begins to change. As the Civil War looms and Caleb's thirst for freedom grows, Jardine reluctantly agrees to let the slave buy his freedom. Caleb has no money, but Jardine comes up with a scheme: Caleb can earn the price of freedom by fighting--and winning--boxing matches. But--in an ever more turbulent political climate--even if Caleb makes enough to purchase his freedom, what then? Freedom papers don't mean much in a state of war. Set against a conflict that threatens to split a nation, Caleb's story is both tragic and triumphant. Revised edition: This edition of Caleb includes editorial revisions.

When Harry Castor opens a bar to support his family, no sooner do the doors open than local gangster Charlie Rizzo waltzes through, demanding a cut of the action. With his entire life's savings invested in the bar, Harry Castor can’t afford to pay Rizzo protection. But Harry can’t afford not to, either. Out of options, Harry concocts a desperate plan to fight back against the vicious mobster. But as the stakes escalate and the men's duel becomes more violent, both Harry and Rizzo realize that their thirst for vengeance and retribution could cost them the one thing they swore to protect—their families.