Introduction

It''s New York, 1963, and college student Russell Newhouse has just made the acquaintance of notorious Jewish gangster Shoeshine Cats.
Cats wants a tiny favour. And - for his own reasons - he also wants to educate Russell in the world of crime, cops and the gritty reality of life on the edge.
Russell knows a lot about books, a bit about girls, and nothing at all about the mob.

That''s about to change.