Everett Hitch, the narrator, has left Appaloosa without his partner Virgil Cole. He rides into the town of Resolution and is hired by a saloon owner, Mr. Wolfson, to keep peace in the saloon.

Resolution has no sheriff or other government. Four groups are struglling with one another, Wolfson, the townie, Eamon O'Malley, a mine owner, Fritz Stark who owns and manages a lumbering operation and sawmill and a group of homesteaders, led by Bob Redmond, who live in the valley.

The story moves along very quickly, especially when Cato and Rose, two well known gunfighters are hired by O'Malley and Virgil Cole arrives to hang out with his friend Hitch.

As you might guess there is a great deal of conflict and bloodshed which eventually gets itself all sorted out.

Parker's style of driving the plot almost solely with dialogue makes the book a very fast read - less than a day for me. He does not provide much exposition but it's not really necessary because the dialogue tersely describes the situation with the help of the reader's imagination to fill in the gaps.

While I've not always enjoyed Western novels, I love what Parker has done in these two books. Another one is on the way titled "Brimstone". I can hardly wait.