Set in the summer of 1952, Deadline:New York centers on the emerging paperback book industry in New York City. The protagonist is a former Naval intelligence officer and best-selling writer of paperback adventure novels who is asked by a secretary at his publishing house to investigate the suicide of her boyfriend. At the heart of the investigation is a state senate hearing on obscenity in the paperback industry and a widespread conspiracy inside the United States government, law enforcement and America's major corporations. Combining real historical figures with fictional ones, the story reveals some of the early growing pains of the paperback industry and offers an exciting confrontation between ordinary citizens and a murderous shadow government.