In Indian Territory, a wild assortment of fictional and historical characters clash in an endless battle for supremacy. The last untamed frontier in America has become a haven for the lawless, and lethal for the peace officers patrolling it. The sole court of jurisdiction is in Fort Smith, where Judge Isaac Parker is fighting to retain his absolute rule. His mortal enemy, the notorious Bob Crail, has been captured and the Judge sends top deputy Del Loveless to bring him in. But the insidious outlaw escapes transport, and Deputy Loveless will undergo disasters natural and unnatural in his efforts to recapture him.

In the vast prairie wilderness west of Fort Smith, signs of God are scarce, but the harrowing forces at work are biblical in scope – prairie wildfires, tornados, floods, and an electrifying reversal that tears Del Loveless from all he reveres, threatening to consume him.