West Bottoms (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9798991156080)

In the 1930s, Kansas City's bustling West Bottoms district functioned as the hub of railroads, industry, and crime. But as the Great Depression tightened its grip, the district was left gasping for air. Beneath the economic collapse, a scandal erupts that shakes the region to its core. Over $1 million in forged bonds is uncovered, exposing a labyrinth of corruption that stretches from Kansas City to Chicago. State officials and brokers are entangled in a conspiracy too explosive to contain.

At the center of this whirlwind is a young woman from Dust bowl Kansas, who is swept up in a reckless love affair with a dashing man who turns his back on comfort for the rush of adrenaline-fueled danger. Their treacherous journey, intertwined with the scandal, takes them both down an unforeseen path of heartbreak, misfortune, and death.

Meanwhile, a group of detectives-each haunted by their demons-digs into the chaos of the conspiracy, unraveling not just the crimes at hand but the dark truths buried within themselves and their colleagues. As they inch closer to the truth, aided by bartenders, prostitutes, and hustlers, the lines between justice and corruption are crossed. Chicago gangsters, hungry for a slice of the action, close in. From smoky speakeasies thriving in the wake of Prohibition's end to the perilous back alleys, the fight for power, survival, and profit ignites a deadly, high-stakes struggle.

Years later, an aging survivor recounts the scandal to a curious granddaughter, revealing long-buried secrets. Against a backdrop of greed and ambition, lives collide and unravel in the rough-hewn streets of the West Bottoms. The question is not just who will survive-but whether anyone can escape unscathed from the storm of calculated betrayal that left its mark on them all.