Chicago cop Gus Carson was bad, crooked, and dangerous before he went to war. But, having survived a Japanese submarine attack in the Pacic, he returns a changed man. So it is plain lousy luck that hes with a pretty hooker in a brothel when a gunman murders two people there. Old habits die hard, and Carson takes the gunman down, saving the state of Illinois the cost of a trial...and gets suspended from the police department for his good deed. Now, with few prospects and no cash, Carson accepts a job that smells shy from jump street: an aspiring politician hires him to nd a kidnapped black racketeer. The hunt will send Carson on a dangerous ride through the city, where his life soon isnt worth the price of a beer. And for those who dont remember the 1940s, thats ve cents. A page-turning noir detective story, 46, Chicago proves Monroe to be a new master of the genre.