The city is New York and the scenario is cops vs bad guys. The hero's name is Mickey Malone and he is retired from the NYPD after taking couple of slugs on the job. His Uncle Chief Inspector Joe Weston is depending on his help in solving some of those cases that are almost impossible to solve without outside help. The time is the late 1950s and it predates the 60s drug scene in NYC that was typical for the anti-war resistance movement. Still, cops are cops and bad guys are always bad guys and you never know where you might wind up.