Little Caesar by W. R. Burnett

Published in 1929 and widely regarded as the original gangster novel, Little Caesar traces the rise and fall of Cesare "Rico" Bandello, a small-time hood who claws his way to the top of Chicago's criminal underworld. Its terse, unsentimental style directly influenced the hard-boiled crime fiction that followed, and it became the basis for the classic 1931 film.

Includes the full unabridged audiobook (LibriVox recording) along with the ePub.