THE BIG PAY OFF Frank Nolan had been on the outside a long time. But now the Family was split in two, the doors to power were open, and Nolan walked in — right into a sizzling crossfire of doublecross, danger and death. Nolan didn’t know who wanted him out of the way. He just knew he had a sweet young swinger named Sherry for unlimited aid and comfort, a well-worn and trusted.38 for limited security, and an old score that could only be settled with BLOOD MONEY

Third in the series by Max Allan Collins that's an homage to Richard Stark's Parker novels

A FAMILY AFFAIR Just when Nolan’s looking for a way out of his dead-end job, trouble comes knocking, and he’s back in business. Someone harboring an old grudge has just picked off Joey DiPreta. a crooked businessman with ties to the mob. and the guy’s family is out to get whoever’s responsible. So is Nolan’s Family — in Chicago — and they offer him big bucks and a piece of a swank hotel if he II protect their interests. Only this time Nolan’s gotten into more than he bargained for. The hit man turns out to be a Vietnam vet convinced he’s launched a holy war against vice and corruption — and the son of one of Nolan’s friends. The melodramatic bastard’s got hard evidence of graft in high places, and he’s set himself up as some kind of avenging angel. His master plan calls for more hits, and there’s no telling when he’ll stop. Meanwhile, Nolan’s pal Jon is courting disaster in a motel room, and a couple of innocents are kidnapped as a ploy to lure the hit man into the open. Somehow Nolan’s got to untangle the whole mess — and see that no one gets hurt. But with both sides out for blood, there’s no room for heroes, and he’ll have to be damned careful — and lucky — not to get nailed in the crossfire

Heist-man Nolan is enjoying his retirement from crime, running his own restaurant, when the president of a bank he robbed two years ago shows up with a blackmail demand. All Nolan has to do is rob the bank again — and play patsy to a sexy girl friend’s murder scheme

Return of a femme fatale. Beautiful, homicidal Julie has one lethal solution for every problem. And now Nolan and his sometime sidekick Jon have gotten on Julie's problem list. If a pair of out-of-town hitmen can't do the job, Julie will do it herself. Said the Cleveland Plain Dealer: “For fans of the hardboiled crime novel… this is powerful and highly enjoyable reading, fast moving and very, very tough.”

Nolan, the reformed thief, has finally gotten his life in order. He has a restaurant and a beautiful lady friend. Then Coleman Comfort shows up and makes things clear immediately. He and his son have kidnapped Nolan’s girlfriend, and if Nolan does not do what they say, Sherry is dead

Collins provides a vivid portrait of college-town life in the Vietnam years as Nolan does a favor for an old-time Mafia friend and tries to find out how his daughter was killed. Was it really a suicide like the police say? Or was she involved somehow in the circle of drugs that was so pervasive in the college scene? Nolan risks his life investigating a Mafia family's involvement in the girl's death to help out his old pal