When Star McCallister and his gang break out of the Dodge City jail, there’s hell to pay. And it looks like McCallister’s half-brother, former Texas Ranger John Checker, will be the one paying. McCallister and his gang murder two of Checker’s friends, burn the homestead of his sister, kill her husband, and take her two small children into the wild Indian Territory. Checker knows it’s up to him to set things right―and he knows his half-brother will be waiting for him in the wilderness. He’s counting on a final confrontation with the ruthless McCallister. But there’s something he hasn’t counted on, a dark secret he never expected―a secret that could very well kill him. “These days, the traditional Western doesn’t get much better than Cotton Smith.” ― Roundup Magazine “Cotton Smith is another modern writer with cinematic potential. Grand themes, moral conflicts and courage are characteristic of his fiction.” ― True West “When it came to literature, middle-age had only three good things to show me: Patrick O’Brian, Larry McMurty, and Cotton Smith.” ―Jay Wolpert, screenwriter of Pirates of the Caribbean “In just a few years on the scene, Cotton Smith has made a strong mark as a Western writer of the new breed, telling it like it was.” ―Elmer Kelton, seven time Spur award-winning author “The traditional Western will never die as long as Cotton Smith is writing.” ―Loren D. Estleman, Spur award-winning novelist “Cotton Smith is one of the finest of a new breed of writers of the American West.” ―Don Coldsmith, Spur award-winning author of the Spanish Bit series Cotton Smith has been a writer all his life―from award-winning advertising to unforgettable Western novels. He is also a Western historian, artist, and horseman. His books have won accolades from critics and readers alike for their historical accuracy, memorable characters, and intriguing plot twists. A Spur Award finalist, he is a former President of the Western Writers of America.