Arthur Milo, an IRS official with access to detailed personal and financial data, chooses his kidnap victims from his files. Pete Honeycutt is in charge of the case and Milo taunts him with personal phone calls, eventually threatening his family.

Larry McAfee is paralyzed from the neck down following a motorcycle accident. He gradually loses the will to live, in the meantime befriending a talk radio DJ over the phone. The two meet each other and become friends, though Larry still wishes to end his life. The DJ reluctantly has a switch installed on Larry's life support that Larry can activate at any time (via his mouth) to end his life.

A vigilante killer becomes a celebrity by gunning down Chicago mobsters, but nobody except a police detective and a local journalist seems eager to catch him.

Set in 1958, the coming of age story follows four lower middle-class Brooklyn teenagers known as The Lords of Flatbush. The Lords chase girls, steal cars, shoot pool, get into street fights, and hang out at a local malt shop.