"Hang up your guns and enjoy life-before the bullet sends you to bootlegger heaven," Infamous gangster Charlie Birger tells Carl Shelton. The next morning, Birger hangs. Carl, though, returns to his life as a bootlegger and leader of the Shelton Gang. Still, Birger's words haunt him. Retiring to his farm in southern Illinois seems like an idyllic way for Carl to spend his golden years.

Meanwhile, though, there are banks to rob, infringing mobsters to kill, and church to attend. Religiously.

Black Charlie Harris grew up with the Shelton brothers and works as a hitman for the gang. Still, he resents the brothers' fame and fortune. Carl, always astute, realizes Black Charlie isn't happy-and unhappy mobsters are dangerous mobsters. So, Carl frames Black Charlie. After ten years in Leavenworth, Black Charlie is free on parole and filled with hatred for the Sheltons.

While Carl contemplates retirement, Black Charlie calculates revenge.

A sequel to 13 Steps for Charlie Birger, Bootlegger Heaven tells the incredible story of the bloody southern Illinois region known as Little Egypt from the 1920s through the 1940s. This novel is so closely based on historic evidence, the actual events are listed in the back of the book.