Raised in Harlem, Tommy Gibbs becomes a successful mob boss but he clashes with the rival Mafia and his old enemy, dirty cop McKinney.

A Vietnam veteran gets caught in a mob war with a couple of double-crossers.

The protégé of a famous cat burglar reluctantly agrees to join forces with a lesser criminal in the daring heist of several famous jewels from a seemingly impenetrable vault.

Master Sgt. Albert Callan is a war hero and a no-nonsense leader who reforms his previously mismanaged military base. Although Callan seems collected, he struggles as a closeted homosexual. When the sergeant becomes obsessed with his handsome clerk, Tom Swanson, he even disrupts the young man's relationship with his French girlfriend, Solange. Since Swanson isn't receptive to Callan's advances, it creates major tension between the two men.

The story, set in Kansas during the 1920's, covers less than a year in the life of a black teenager, and documents the veritable deluge of events which force him into sudden manhood. The family relationships and enmities, the fears, frustrations and ambitions of the black teenager in small-town America are explored with a strong statement about human values.