At 30, Bill Naylor had spent half his life behind bars. Free again, and while looking for a new job, he saves a man from drowning. The rescued man turns out to be Barry Christian, the outlaw king. Naylor, rewarded with a top job in Christian's gang, thinks his fortune's made. But Christian's deadly enemy is Arizona Jim Silver—the legendary Silvertip.

Silvertip has vowed to bring Christian to justice. Naylor, who know firsthand about Silvertip's courage and fairness, realizes that Silvertip, his friend, is the more formidable of the two giants.

Then Christian plans the crime of his career, a daring robbery that will make the gang rich. For Naylor it is the one chance of a lifetime—until Naylor learns that Christian's plot calls for Silvertip's death.