THE NOBLEST ROMAN

Angelo Bonatura, a perfectionist in all he did—fishing, turkey shooting, politicking, murder and bootlegging—was understandably put out when his sheriff, the incumbent Big Turk, lost the election to young McCalla the candidate of the "dry" element in the county. McCalla, whose father the police chief had once long ago prevented Angelo from practising his legitimate trade as a barber, proved hard to kill. But there were other ways of removing an honest sheriff and Angelo found a simple but foolproof method in the person of a young woman who wanted lots of money very badly. McCalla rose eagerly to the bait and Angelo looked forward again to being the county's best and only bootlegger. However, McCalla not a very strong-willed young man, took what is sometimes called the coward's way out, and in his defeat prepared, as Angelo well recognized, for his own downfall. A well-plotted and well-constructed novel that is despite its many elements of strong action, basically a novel of character....and a good one within its self-imposed limitations.