Doc Byrne was too smart for his own good. His overstuffed brain strained his underdeveloped body to the brink of collapse until the only cure for him was to leave big city life and head west. At the edge of the mountains he found problems even bigger than his. In love with the human mind, he encountered men who paid no mind at all.

Jerry Strann, for instance. The people of Brownsville accepted Jerry as the wrath of God for all the local sins. As strong and as wild as a mountain bear, Jerry could kill a wolf with his bare hands. Could any man defeat him?

Dan Barry might. Quick as a whip, smooth as a breeze, Dan had built up a reputation as tough as the Stranns'. He rode a powerful black horse named Satan and was followed by a dog that looked like a wolf. Called the Night Horseman, Dan seemed something other than a man. Wherever he went, he whisted, and his whistle seemed to penetrate everywhere, as maddening as a guilty conscience. There would be plenty of work for Doc Byrne before the Night Horseman rode away.