He trafficked in rum and women, this modern-day Al Capone. Clifton Adam's famous tale of bootlegging in Oklahoma, 20 years after Prohibition's repeal in 47 other states. Legendary to this day for its dark account of a man on the wrong side of the tracks out to get what's his, any way he can. Originally published in 1953.

Once he had belonged to the stark and brutal days, days of manhunts and sudden violence. Now Owen Toller had a farm and a family. Until the Brunner brothers came down from the hills-to murder and plunder, to writer bloodier, more savage history than even the James and the Dalton gangs.

The rock was about the size of a man's head. A beautiful rock, about twenty pounds of it, and somehow I had to get over to it. The minute I saw it I knew that rock was just the thing I needed. This is going to take some doing, I thought, but I have to get my hands on that rock. Gorgan yelled, "Get the lead out, Surratt This ain't no goddamn picnic " Gorgan was one of the prison guards, a red-faced, hairy-armed anthropoid, sadist by instinct, moron by breeding. His lips curled in a grin and he lifted his Winchester 30-30 and pointed it straight at my chest. There was nothing in the world he would like better than an excuse to kill me. He had had his eye on me for a long time. You sonofabitch, I thought, if you knew what was good for you, you would pull that trigger right now, because five minutes from now it's going to be too late

His face was burned to the color of old leather, and I guessed he was the type that spent a lot of time on a golf course, or maybe a tennis court. We talked a little about the weather and how hot it was, and then I hung up the hose and went to work on the windshield. That was when I got my first good look at the woman. And she just about took my breath away. Originally published in 1955.