Sordid, pathetic, senselessly exciting. . . has the immediacy and the significance of a nerve-shattering explosion.--The New Republic

The depression of the 1930s led people to desperate measures to survive. The marathon dance craze, which flourished at that time, seemed a simple way for people to earn extra money dancing the hours away for cash, for weeks at a time. But the underside of that craze was filled with a competition and violence unknown to most ballrooms.

Horace McCoy was born near Nashville, Tennessee in 1897. His novels include I Should Have Stayed Home (1938), and Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (1948).

Remembered for his novel They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, author Horace McCoy began his writing career as a mainstay during the golden age of Black Mask Magazine, selling nearly 20 stories to editor Joseph T. Shaw. A former aviator, McCoy penned 14 gritty stories of Jerry Frost for Black Mask: a flying Texas Ranger, one of Hell's Stepsons who patrolled the border. It was McCoy's greatest work for the pulps prior to departing for a lengthy career as a scriptwriter. This edition collects the first half of the Frost series, most of which have never before been reprinted. Also including an all-new introduction by John Wooley.

TEMPTATION and DESIRE in Hollywood Ralph Carston, a handsome young man from Georgia, and roommate Mona Matthews work as extras and dream of Hollywood stardom when a courtroom fracas by Mona gives them a flash of notoriety. This leads to a swank Hollywood party and an introduction to Ethel Smithers, a rich older woman with a less than pure interest in Carston.

TEMPTATION and DESIRE in Hollywood Ralph Carston, a handsome young man from Georgia, and roommate Mona Matthews work as extras and dream of Hollywood stardom when a courtroom fracas by Mona gives them a flash of notoriety. This leads to a swank Hollywood party and an introduction to Ethel Smithers, a rich older woman with a less than pure interest in Carston.

Temptation and desire in Hollywood. Hard-boiled. Perverse Plot Summary: Ralph Carston, a handsome young man from Georgia, and roommate Mona Matthews work as extras and dream of Hollywood stardom when a courtroom fracas by Mona gives them a flash of notoriety. This leads to a swank Hollywood party and an introduction to Ethel Smithers, a rich older woman with a less than pure interest in Carston...