When Brooklyn shamus Eddie Lombardi saves deadbeat gambler Johnny Temafonte from a beating, heÄôs just being a good neighbor. And he has no interest in helping the kid further until he meets JohnnyÄôs pretty sister Laura. But when Eddie tries to settle JohnnyÄôs accounts with some of BrooklynÄôs most notorious gambler kingpins, things start to heat up Äì- literally. As if JohnnyÄôs not enough trouble, EddieÄôs dimwit friends Tony and Angelo have sent him on a mission of mercy for a carny freak show troupe being brutalized at Coney Island. Are the two missions one and the same? Does the priest pray in church?
Eddie knows he canÄôt tackle this one alone, so he enlists the aid of Liam OÄôRourke, an eccentric shamus from the wilds of Canarsie with a penchant for making up off-color limericks. His old reliable, Watusi, also signs up. Their services will be sorely needed, because thereÄôs an even more deadly element in the mix: a mysterious Mr G., who seems to be pulling the strings. Finding who he is, where, and what he's up to before itÄôs too late, is almost more than Eddie and company can handle.