Fourth Down to Death

There’s a lot of money—and the fate of football—riding on PI Mike Shayne’s broad shoulders in this thrilling crime caper in the long-running series.

Mike Shayne is a big man, but not as massive as the Dolphins’ offensive tackle who’s in his sights. The team’s owner has hired Shayne to see if Joe “Truck” Truszowski took money to miss two blocks during last week’s game, leading to hits that put their star quarterback in a coma. It’s a gambling scandal that could rock the NFL.

Following the money, Shayne uncovers a list of high rollers and lowlifes, including an insurance broker who won big, the Dolphins owner’s wife, a sultry nurse, and a New Jersey ruffian. Trying to stay one step ahead of the league’s own investigator gets easier when the man suffers a tragic “accident” before Shayne can save him.

With the game clock ticking down, Shayne sends up a Hail Mary pass to reveal a web of blackmail, greed, and deception stretching from Miami’s betting underworld to the locker rooms and luxury suites of the folks with everything to lose . . .

“The hard-drinking, hard-fisted, quick-thinking private eye!” —Dayton Journal-Herald