Jimmy the Stick

Jimmy the Stick

A gunman comes out of retirement to guard his former partner’s family.

Jimmy Quinn was a gunman, bootlegger, and bagman, working with the likes of Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, and Vincent “Mad Dog” Coll, until a ruined knee and the murder of Arnold Rothstein ended his career.

Quinn bought a speakeasy in downtown Manhattan and settled into a quiet retirement—until the day he learns that famous aviator Charles Lindbergh’s baby has been kidnapped, and his old friend and partner Walter Spencer wants a word. Spence has left his criminal past behind, marrying into the Pennyweight family—of Pennyweight Petroleum—and settling into a legitimate lifestyle in rural New Jersey.

Now Spence has business out of state, and with the Lindbergh kidnapping weighing on his mind, he wants Quinn to stay in his home and protect his family. A few days guarding Spence’s beautiful wife should be easy work, but Quinn’s old business is about to catch up with him, and he quickly finds that the Garden State can be even more dangerous than the streets of New York City.

Reviews

“[Mayo] persuasively portrays such real-life mobsters as Meyer Lansky and Lucky Luciano in a tale sure to appeal to fans of Max Allan Collins’s gangster historicals.” —Publishers Weekly

“Imagine an Agatha Christie country-house murder mystery soaked in booze and violence, with the detective played as a cold, pragmatic street fighter instead of some effete Belgian fop. The expected traditional shenanigans unfold (there’s even a hidden room!), albeit in a rather hardboiled and occasionally bloody fashion, but the solution is clever and fair. What really sticks, however, is the film critic and first-time novelist’s muscular way with character and plot, and particularly Jimmy’s way with words.” —Mystery Scene Magazine

Reader Reviews

“Jimmy’s a bad guy you can root for, and thankfully, he doesn’t get redeemed or see the light in the end.” Spike on Jimmy the Stick (Amazon)

“One fabulous piece of fiction… The plot is well thought out, the characters are very realistic, and the time period detail is spot-on.” Rachel, on Jimmy the Stick (Amazon)

“This is a great read and a hell of a debut novel.”Brian on Jimmy the Stick (Amazon)

“[A]n absolute gem of a suspense novel that takes place during the time of the Lindbergh kidnapping.”Lolly, on Jimmy the Stick (Goodreads)

Inspiration & Background for Jimmy and Fay

Books by Mike Mayo