The Surprise Party

Rain, suspicion, and underworld instinct collide when the High Collar Kid leaves a rooming house and heads for Clarksburg, sensing too late that he may already be the target of a trap. A lone young woman in the storm draws his attention, and what begins as a cautious encounter quickly becomes a deadly ride when he circles back to offer her a lift and discovers she is armed, waiting, and part of the setup. Forced to keep driving at gunpoint, the Kid sees that she is less mastermind than reluctant participant, and he searches for clues even as the danger closes in. Then the headlights of Pete Pelton and Smile Dugan cut through the rain, revealing the true shape of the ambush. With his life on the line, the Kid must outthink a "surprise party" that is anything but harmless, in a tense crime story charged with menace, deception, and fast-moving suspense. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.