Race Williams was a man not above using a gun, nor of making a quick buck. But there was one other—Sticker Haddock—who enjoyed murder like one does a game of checkers. So when Haddock’s employer, a well-off politician and bootlegging kingpin, approaches Williams out of fear for his own life, a chance to match wits with Haddock and make $200, 000 lands on his table. Although Williams is quick to accept the offer, it may be in vain, for Williams’ own life becomes put in the crosshairs of the man they call “The Shooting Fool.” Story #8 in the Race Williams series.
Carroll John Daly (1889–1958) was the creator of the first hard-boiled private eye story, predating Dashiell Hammett’s first Continental Op story by several months. Daly’s classic character, Race Williams, was one of the most popular fiction characters of the pulps, and the direct inspiration for Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer.