Ron McCallister's job is to be a hard-ass, to keep unwelcome degenerates out of Starlet's Alley. The strip club is the only locally owned business in Chicago's suburb of Woolrich. The pay beats working anywhere else nearby, and Ron can keep tabs on the city's scum, both well-connected and otherwise. Ron's life changes when a stripper who piques his interest, Carey Sullivan, saves his life from sleazy mob subordinates. The brush with death pits both of them against municipal politicians, local police, and the mobsters who own them. Carey and Ron rely on their wits, a growing cadre of like-minded friends, and a little outside help to strike back at local thugs and attempt to take back their lives. During their struggle, a desire ingnites between them that burns brighter than a freshly-lit Molotov cocktail. A Racket in the Burbs is an imagined affair enveloped in the backdrop of Operation Family Secrets, a real life FBI investigation that crippled the Chicago mob.