The sheriff of a Montana mining town faces a blood-thirsty bandit out for revenge in this award-winning series debut: "An exceptional Western novel" (Historical Novel Society).

Surrounded by ranches, farms, and precious metal mines, the town of Dover Station, Montana is ripe for the plucking. It's up to Sheriff Aaron Mackey to keep the peace—and keep the dregs of humanity from trying to make a killing. If anyone can smell an investment opportunity, it's railroad men and big city bankers. They're not the kind of folks that Sheriff Mackey is used to dealing with. But greed is greed, and he knows all too well how money can drive men to murder.

When Mackey is forced to gun down a pair of saloon rats, it brings a powder keg of trouble—with a quick-burning fuse of vengeance named Alexander Duramont. This bloodthirsty psychopath wants to kill the sheriff for killing his buddies. And he plans to get his revenge using a highly combustible mix of fire, fear, and dynamite. Mackey's not sure how he's going to stop this blood-crazed lunatic. But it's going to be one explosive showdown . .