Iron Hands (An Irish Jimmy Gallagher Story)

His name is Irish Jimmy Gallagher, and he checks in at 6'3" and 225 pounds. A boxer with dancing green eyes and a wit born of the Blarney Stone, Jimmy is a hell of a fella, quick with a laugh and quicker with the jab.

But if you foul him, stand back, because all the laughs will die in fury.

It's Los Angeles, 1955. A time of relative peace in the nation. The Korean War has ended, Eisenhower is in the White House and in the City of Angels life goes on.

And down by the river is a "smoker," a privately set-up boxing match where Jimmy hopes to make a couple hundred bucks. With his girl, Ruby, waiting tables at Charley's, Jimmy can always use a little extra scratch. What he can't abide is a mobster trying to fix a fight. But what can one man do against a local crime boss and his team of thugs? Especially after they've arranged to have Jimmy Gallagher clobbered by Iron Hands?

This 5700 word story is written in the style of the old action pulp magazines of the 1930s.

By James Scott Bell, "One of the best writers out there, bar none." (Library Review)