Recommended reading: Stick by Elmore Leonard (1983):

Stick

By Elmore Leonard.

Published by Arbor House.

First published 1983.

Hardcover.

ISBN-10: 0877954364

ISBN-13: 978-0877954361

Description:

After serving time for armed robbery, Ernest "Stick" Stickley is back on the outside and trying to stay legit. But it's tough staying straight in a crooked town -- and Miami is a pirate's paradise, where investment fat cats and lowlife drug dealers hold hands and dance. And when a crazed player chooses Stick at random to die for another man's sins, the struggling ex-con is left with no choice but to dive right back into the game. Besides, Stick knows a good thing when he sees it -- and a golden opportunity to run a very profitable sweet revenge scam seems much too tasty to pass up.