That's Life, I Guess - Hardcover

by Paul Berge (Author)

Los Angeles, 1936, broke, hungry and without wings. Like many Depression-era tramps, Jake Hollow is drawn to California's siren call. Unlike other hobos, he carries a telegram from an old buddy, inviting Jake to live the dream at rainbow's dead end, flying for the movies. As Jake rides the rails into L.A., the East Coast Mob, led by Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, arrives in style to stake its claim on the City of Angels. With Prohibition repealed, mobsters turn to expanding illegal gambling operations in Southern California. To avoid the law they can't bribe, the casinos are loaded onto old steamships and anchored outside the three-mile limit off the coast. What's illegal on land is vaguely legit offshore. As the money rolls in on the tide it carries the bodies of those who don't play by the rules-Mob rules, Hollywood rules. And Jake Hollow rarely plays or flies by the rules.