Just after Sam Foster the undertaker has received a letter telling him to have three fresh graves dug, a mysterious man in black arrives in War Smoke with revenge in his heart. Jonas Ward has travelled all the way from the Eastern Seaboard to fulfil the dying wishes of his late brother Lucas - to kill the three people blamed for Lucas' death. Marshal Matt Fallen enlists the aid of hillbilly Heck Longfellow to try to get to the bottom of the labyrinth of puzzles he is faced with. Can Fallen figure it out in time?

Michael D. George has written over 100 novels for Black Horse under his own name as well as numerous pen names such as Rory Black, Boyd Cassidy, John Ladd, Dean Edwards, Dale Mike Rogers, Walt Keene, Ty Walker. Max Gunn and Roy Patterson.