Three sevens : A detective story by Perley Poore Sheehan
"Three sevens" by Perley Poore Sheehan is a detective novel written in the early 20th century. The story follows Daniel Craig, an inmate nicknamed “Three Sevens,” who leads a bold prison takeover at San Pedro and then resolves to pursue justice by hunting down the truly dangerous escapees he has unintentionally unleashed. Mixing action with a moral quest about law versus justice, it pairs Craig’s resolve with the courage of reformer’s daughter
Joan Gracie and the wary loyalty of underworld veterans. The opening of the novel plunges into San Pedro’s “punishment block,” where Craig uses a cat’s hidden steel-saw collar—left by the infamous Chi Slim—to cut out of solitary. With guidance from Eddie the Yegg, he overpowers the guards, locks them up, and briefly runs the prison, convening a makeshift court in the chapel to parole men he deems reformed while sending crowds away by truck and train. Joan Gracie arrives seeking her father, the incoming reform warden, nearly sparking a riot until Eddie fires to stop a hostage grab; Craig rescues Joan and is wounded. Grim news follows: fresh crimes by escapees Bud Gaspell and Ben Jarvis convict Craig of his mistake; Joan helps him compile a “red ledger” of the worst fugitives to bring back. Craig slips into the night with an ally, George Washington, vowing to return the predators to prison as the special train bearing Major Gracie reaches San Pedro. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Sheehan, Perley Poore, 1875-1943 |
|---|---|
| Title | Three sevens : A detective story |
| Original Publication | New York City: Chelsea House, 1927. |
| Credits | Tim Miller, Carol Brown and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature |
| Subject | Detective and mystery stories |
| Subject | Escapes -- Fiction |
| Subject | Escaped prisoners -- Fiction |
| Subject | Thrillers (Fiction) |
| Category | Text |
| EBook-No. | 78011 |
| Release Date | Feb 23, 2026 |
| Copyright Status | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 4835 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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