Publisher's Synopsis
It's 1891 in Wyoming. The open range has become a battlefield. Farmers are settling and cultivating the land, but the cattle ranchers hate "sodbusters" and their crops and fences. With political forces in their pockets, the Wyoming Stock Growers Association (WSGA) has the power of law. And the law of the range can hang a man without a trial. Peaceable farmer Jess Horn falls victim when he is accused of cattle-rustling and lynched by rancher Pat Winkler. As a result, his family leaves the valley. Winkler also hires a mysterious gunfighter named Melvin Horndean; small and strange in manner, Horndean refuses to reveal his face and hides behind a bandana. Some of the farmers decide to see justice done and fight back. They hire former stock detective Peter Calhoun to protect them from the attacks of the big ranchers. Unlike many in his profession, Calhoun doesn't want bloodshed. He's seen the results of other range wars and tries to make peace before resorting to a gun. And he's very interested in the gunman on Pat Winkler's payroll. Why does the little man with the masked face and black gloves and reputation as a dead shot always seem to miss his target? Then Nick Harrison, son of a prominent member of the WSGA, is murdered. Gunslinger Horndean disappears and a bounty hunter shows up. Rumor has it that Nick Harrison's secret sweetheart might be involved in his murder. Calhoun has some suspicions about the families he's working for, and rushes to beat the bounty hunter, who's also an old rival, to Horndean. Turns out there's a startling secret behind the gunfighter that no one saw coming. But it might put Calhoun on the scent of the real murderer. And it could be that the law of the range will turn on the violent men who created it and punish the real guilty parties.
