President of the Western Writers of America, Cotton Smith is critically lauded for his resurrection of the classic Western. A bit long in the tooth, Bass Tillman has given up the guns and gone respectable. But then his son and daughter-in-law are murdered in cold blood, and he swears on their graves he will bring their killers to justice.

"Tanneman Rose was a Texas Ranger turned bad. When he and his gang robbed a bank, he brought shame to the badge. A jury found him guilty, a judge sentenced him, but Rose swore he wouldn't die in prison. Instead he died while trying to escape. Time Carlow helped to capture his fellow Ranger that day at the bank, and now he's investigating a very odd series of murders. Each victim was involved in sending Tanneman Rose to jail. Could it be a coincidence?...

Times are getting hard in Texas. Lady Holt, a powerful rancher who moved there from England, has set her sights on taking over the whole state, and she doesn't much care about the law, or folks lives. The next step in her plan is to get rid of the Texas Rangers. And she just might convince the weak-kneed governor to do it. But Ranger John Checker isn't about to sit back and let Lady Holt replace the Rangers with her gang of thugs. He'll do whatever...