Calculating Personal Costs and Rewards
A New York mobster impressed by Sam Tilden's strategic mind, sends him to Prohibition-era Pittsburgh to launch the "numbers racket"-the illegal forerunner to today's state-run lotteries. Partnering with the city's reigning crime boss, John Volpe, Sam's enterprise aggressively expands into new territories and adds slot machines, making him a prime target for Pittsburgh's recently established Morals Court.
Nickel and dime bets fuel extravagant Jazz Age luxuries: a chauffeured Pierce Arrow limousine, a private Pullman train car to Chicago's fabled Dempsey/Tunney bout and trips to Hot Springs, Arkansas-the resort favored by leading celebrities and mobsters.
Sam's story intertwines with actual events including the threatening resurgence of Pittsburgh's Ku Klux Klan. Remarkable historical figures also populate his world. Most prominently, Sam builds a friendship with Gus Greenlee-the legendary jazz club owner and Negro League baseball pioneer-and serves in an improbable advisory role with the Governor.
Throughout, gnawing questions persist: is the big-shot life truly satisfying? And how can he reconcile conflicting feelings for his longtime New York girlfriend and his Pittsburgh lover?
When the Roaring Twenties slip into the Great Depression, the pressure intensifies as mob rivalries escalate and newspapers urge the DA to prosecute the "slot machine and numbers czar." Now, more vulnerable than ever, Sam faces his ultimate test.
