No one within fifty miles of Whiskey Crossing, Texas, could match Carp Varner's skill with a sidearm. No one could match his murderous temper either. But when his half-cocked bid for mayor yielded only one vote in his favorhaving voted for himselfhis fury razed the tiny town to the ground in a blaze of flames and hot lead.
Showing up in Apache Springs to offer his services as a gunsmith, Varner even gets on the good side of Sheriff Cotton Burke. But when Burke learns of Varner's true natureand past crimeshe unleashes an inferno of his own to see justice done.