Len Manners, better known as “Midget,” is used to being alone. Ever since an accident took the lives of his mother and two sisters, his father has been too busy and his aunt too indulgent to pay much attention to him. Left to his own devices, Midget has developed quite a talent for petty theft—and he's rather proud of his ability to get away with it!
But when his father is murdered in a gangland shooting, everything changes. Discovering that his father had been secretly delivering beer to speakeasies, Midget becomes obsessed with finding the man responsible and taking revenge. Suddenly the boy who never wanted anything to do with gangs is determined to join one—he's willing to risk everything just to settle the score.
Fortunately, Speed Austin and the boys from St. Leo's aren't about to abandon their friend. But how can they help a boy who won't listen to reason—and is headed straight for disaster?
Here is another truly unique story from a Chicago priest who ministered to prisoners in the County Jail during the 1920s and ’30s. He saw firsthand how the very instincts that ought to lead young men toward virtue—their courage, loyalty, and natural outrage at injustice—could too easily lead them to crushing regret instead. He wanted to reach boys before it was too late, teaching them through realistic, gripping stories that doing wrong could never make things right.
First published in 1931, this thrilling sequel to Brass Knuckles brings back Speed Austin and his friends from St. Leo's in another hard-hitting adventure, newly illustrated by Erin Bartholomew.
Read more about the author, Monsignor Raymond O'Brien, here.
5.5" x 8.5" paperback 194 pages