When New York City shopkeeper Steve Dancy moved west to experience the frontier, he wound up embroiled in a deadly feud ... a feud he was forced to settle with guns. Now all he wants to do is follow up on a few business interests, write about his adventures, and continue his exploration of the West. But in the autumn of 1879, Joseph McAllen asks Dancy for help. Ute renegades have abducted a young girl near Mesa Verde, Colorado, and the Pinkerton captain wants Dancy to join the rescue party. Surprisingly, the trail doesn't lead into the San Juan Mountains, but to Leadville—a rich mining town teeming with the worst elements of a raw frontier. Before the small team can save the girl, shysters and killers conspire to enrich themselves from the incident. Bitter feuds, vendettas, and greed turn the rescue into a bloody conflict that spans the state. Dancy has proven that he can handle himself in dangerous situations. But can this shopkeeper survive the perils of an untamed mountain wilderness?