No matter where the atrocities were committed and no matter what the circumstances, criminal gangs such as the Hyslop, the Polka Dot, and the Newton Brothers outfits all had one thing in common: they lived on the wrong side of the law. From across Canada, Edward Butts presents an all-new selection of desperadoes.

Newfoundland desperadoes: A rogues' gallery -- Bad-men on the border: six guns and running irons -- Smugglers of Nova Scotia: the tale of the Four Sisters -- Newton gang: Texas bandits in Canada -- Verne Sankey: kidnapper -- Sydney Lass and Jack O'Brien: mysterious Pat Norton -- Hyslop gang: suicide and the hangman -- Polka dot gang: "A strange fraternity of men" -- Stanley Buckowski: the long road to the gas chamber -- Joseph McAuliffe: lethal pursuit -- Lucien Rivard: the great escape -- Micky McArthur: "I'd rather die with a gun in my hand".