Caldera relates a man's lifelong, dangerous and heartbreaking pursuit to define, discover and hold on to his family. Three forces shape Caldera's life: the love of his surrogate father, a Pima Indian farmer/warrior; the indifference of his natural father, a mountain man who stumbled into a fortune in gold; and the hate of his step-mother, a bordello madam. He is at first a happy-go-lucky kid in the boom town of Privy, Arizona Territory. He becomes a scout during the Confederacy's invasion of the West, a husband and widower, mad man and a guilt-ridden killer on a vengeance trail. The path leads to a deadly confrontation with the three forces and a mortal enemy.

Caldera's vengeance trail is related in two stand-alone books: Caldera and Caldera – A Man on Fire. His story will continue in Caldera – A Man of Blood.