A naïve young man follows a fallen woman to a Nevada mining town and risks his life to win her: "Entertaining . . . Cain [has a] flair for realistic detail." —The New York Times
Early in the Civil War, the Confederacy sends Roger Duval to Sacramento to keep an eye on the situation in California in hopes of turning the Western territory toward the Southern cause. It's a plush assignment, well out of the line of fire, but he hasn't been there long before he comes into mortal danger.Duval nearly drowns in the Sacramento River but is saved by Morina, a quick-witted sex worker, who tosses him a rope. Suffocated by instant, irresistible love, Roger follows Morina to Virginia City, Nevada. For the silver miners, gamblers, and gunfighters who populate this hardscrabble town, her price is negotiable. But for a man in love, she charges a thousand dollars. Roger will sacrifice body, mind, and soul to get that money—but will any sacrifice be enough to make her love him?
"A classic." —Newsweek
"[Cain is] one of the greats of American noir." —The Guardian