Pain Gets Expensive: Pat Novak for Hire

"She sauntered in, moving slowly from side to side like a hundred and eighteen pounds of warm smoke." If you got the idea that Pat Novak was a rather single-minded fellow, you'd be wrong. He appreciated liquor every bit as much as he appreciated women. He could be found most nights popping shots and wisecracks with his saloon-owner pal Jocko Madigan (Tudor Owen). But, most of all, he appreciated the crisp greenness of a new fifty-dollar bill.

Operating out of the grim San Francisco waterfron...