Two novels from the mean streets of 1940’s New York City. Sweet Money Girl was originally published by Gold Medal Books in 1954 and tells the story of three lives that collide one December in New York City-Hortense, the dance instructor who knows how to look out for number one; Maxie, the mamma’s boy who just wants his shot at happiness; and Hugh, who wrecks it for all of them. Life and Death of a Tough Guy was originally published in 1955 by Avon Books. Joey Kasow is a skinny Jewish kid growing up in the 1920’s in Hell’s Kitchen. Tormented by the Irish thugs in the neighborhood, he eventually gains their begrudging respect and is allowed to join their gang, the Badgers. Joey grows up tough. He knows he’s got to take whatever is dished out to him to stay in the gang. He learns how to inflict pain–he learns how to kill. And gradually he works his way up the ladder to become the Spotter’s enforcer. He is now Joey Case. But Joey can’t escape his past, falling in love with innocent young Sadie Madofsky, his refuge from the brutal world around him. All Joey wants is to get ahead–but the Spotter has other plans for him.