Is evil decided at birth, or is it cultivated? In this rousing mystery thriller, readers may find an answer to the question of why villains choose the dark paths they walk.

As a child, Buzz knew one thing for sure: his parents didn't want him. Even his name communicated their disinterest; bzzz, like that of a bee. Early on, his parents put him on the same level of an insect.

His parents didn't have jobs in the traditional sense, and amid the Great Depression, being jobless and nearly homeless was a step from a death sentence. So, they did what they knew how to do to survive: they lied.

Buzz, his younger sister Helen, and his parents all grifted until the law came within a few paces of catching onto their scheme.

Before he turned 10, Buzz had been a liar, a grifter, a bootlegger, a swindler, and a crook.

And it only got worse from there.

Looking for work after distancing himself from his parents, Buzz got a job at a speakeasy called The Rose on the Lower East Side. With a hard work ethic (and some dubious morals), Buzz rose through the ranks, venturing deeper into the underbelly of the City as his status continued to elevate. He became a mobster, a killer, and a nonentity with bloodsoaked hands and a penchant for vengeance.

Follow Buzz's desperate spiral to the bottom, from childhood, through adolescence, and finally adulthood. Along the way, discover what it means to be used and how innocent, fun-loving children can be molded into killers by example and circumstance.