From the moment he stepped off the stage wearing a pressed suit, carrying a carpetbag and a black bowler hat, anyone could see: he was a rank greenhorn. But young Vance Brady, fresh out of Boston College, had come all the way to Harrison, Montana with a Purpose.
That purpose would take him to a burned out homestead of old Mike Shanahan, a rancher who'd had an ugly dispute with a neighbor over water rights and died in a violent "accident" at the local saloon. It would also bring him to the local schoolhouse to take on a share of the teaching with the lovely Claire Ewing. Camping on Shan's land was a temporary situation, meant to last just 'til he got to the bottom of things. But once there, he would turn wild horse races and betting odds into arithmetic lessons, face a deadly shootout, and learn a lasting lesson himself, about revenge -- and love.
