A Taste of Cold Steel

Synopsis

A Taste of Cold Steel is revenge packaged in a crime drama. Sonny is on a mission to reunite with his older brother, Eddie, which clashes with his Chicago-gangster father's intentions. The absence of his brother at a tender age transformed Sonny into a insecure, hard-core addict who self-medicates until he can no longer live without Eddie in his life. Sonny's mother, Lovee, becomes aware of his scavenging for Eddie and tells his father, Jules Pavalon, who has a vice-grip on Chicago's justice system. Sonny's manipulated into a guilty plea to murder when he stumbles into a confrontation that leaves Biscaine, Pavalon's loan shark, dead and Sonny unconscious. Sonny's lawyer, Tom Harris, a beaten-down public defender, doesn't have the stamina or energy to vigorously defend Sonny, so he passes the buck to the state public defender's office. As Sonny awaits transport to prison as he sits in the Cook County jail, Pavalon sends Rico, a budding killer focused on being a crime-family member, into the jail to kill Sonny. By sheer coincidence Sonny survives a brutal stabbing. Sonny's drug addiction, false imprisonment and near-death experience forge him into a calculating, disciplined victim who reunites with his brother to get revenge against his father and the justice system. Sonny's appeal lawyer, Steve Hamilton, obtains his freedom, and puts Sonny on a collision course with the lead detective on his case, Lt. Luther, and the seasoned prosecutor, Wayne Tretter. Sonny's persistence leads him to Rico, who is Eddie, and literally into his brother's arms. Fortified by his relationship, Sonny and Rico confront Pavalon. The confrontation erupts with an explosion of lies and deceptions, hatred and emotion when Lovee, Sonny and Rico's mother, is exposed as their aunt while Pavalon is revealed as an incestuous predator, pimp and gang-lord. The revelations, deceptions overwhelm Rico. Consumed by the discreet yet profound manipulation, Rico responds predictably. He lashes out at his deceivers, including himself. Sonny loses more than he gains through his vengeance against Pavalon and the justice system.