Sweet Money Girl/Life and Death of a Tough Guy

by Benjamin Appel

SWEET MONEY GIRL

Hortense is a cynic. Love is great and all that, but it's money that makes the world go round. Maxie is in love with Hortense. She won't give him the time of day, but he knows if he can just put together a big real estate deal, she'll be his--at least for awhile. One night, Maxie introduces Hortense to Hugh, his best friend, who also falls in love with her. Hugh is a realist, willing to take Hortense on her own terms. This is the story of three lives that collide one December in New York City--Hortense, the dance instructor who knows how to look out for number one; Maxie, the mamma's boy who just wants his shot at happiness; and Hugh, who wrecks it for all of them.

LIFE AND DEATH OF A TOUGH GUY

Joey Kasow is a skinny Jewish kid growing up in the 1920's in Hell's Kitchen. Tormented by the Irish thugs in the neighborhood, he eventually gains their begrudging respect and is allowed to join their gang, the Badgers. Joey grows up tough. He knows he's got to take whatever is dished out to him to stay in the gang. He learns how to inflict pain--he learns how to kill. And gradually he works his way up the ladder to become the Spotter's enforcer. He is now Joey Case. But Joey can't escape his past, falling in love with innocent young Sadie Madofsky, his refuge from the brutal world around him. All Joey wants is to get ahead--but the Spotter has other plans for him.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1933586265
• ISBN13: 9781933586267
• Release Date: March 2009
• Publisher: Stark House Press
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A pair of adventures more immersive than a movie!

Sweet Money Girl / Life and Death of a Tough Guy collects a pair of two-fisted action novels by New York City Hell's Kitchen native Benjamin Appel (1907-1977). "Sweet Money Girl", originally published in 1954, is the saga of two men who are both passionately in love with the same woman - Hortense, a dance instructor who has long since lost all pretensions of idealism and always looks after herself first. "Life and Death of a Tough Guy", originally published in 1955, tells the story of Joey Kasow, a Jewish kid growing up in 1920's Hell's Kitchen who becomes increasingly entangled with an Irish gang, eventually serving as their enforcer. New York City itself comes alive in both novels, which pulse with a synergetic resonance that reflects the author's personal life experience. The result is a pair of adventures more immersive than a movie! Highly recommended.