Tall Cameron isn't too much older in years than he was in the last book, but his character has matured considerably. He's still bitter about his one-way ticket out of the future he had dreamed of before he became an outlaw. He also still has his unusually strong and focused anger, a quality that often saves his life and even more often ends the life of someone else.

In this book, which has some slight but interesting similarities to Westlake's Killy, Cameron ends up in a hellish Arizone town called Ocotillo, in which a corrupt US Marshall and a crime boss control a small army of gunmen to rob caravans of smugglers carrying silver from Mexico.

Since both perpetrators and victims are criminals, and an actual US Marshall is on the side of the raiders, they can do this with impunity. But the boss, Bassett, pays off his soldiers with worthless tokens instead of a share of the real money. The tokens can be used to buy things in town but have no real cash value. So no one can ever leave. There's no possibility of getting enough real money to move on and find a safe haven somewhere else.

Which is, of course, what Cameron wants to do., In the process he finds himself caught in a couple of different crossfires, one physical and the other psychological.

The physical one involves a local Mexican woman named Marta. Both the US Marshall and another character, a Native American killer that everyone is scared of, are in love with her and would kill anyone who looks at her. Marta attaches herself to Cameron right away, seeing in him a chance for escape and also an opportunity for some kicks.

(Adams's use of alcohol and sex in this book are enough to make you wonder what a Cornell Woolrich western might have been like.)

The psychological/emotional crossfire comes when Cameron establishes relationships with an older, drunk Civil War veteran and a younger man who has just fled Texas for almost the exact same reason Cameron did in the first book.

Clearly these characters represent Cameron's past and possible future, as well as as possible doom and redemption—whatever redemption might look like for someone like Cameron.

As in the first book, the writing is excellent and the book has a lot of vivid action and brutal but understated violence. It's a real page-turner and a reminder of how exciting westerns can be.

If I had read this book way back when, I could have asked Westlake about it and why he was so down on it. I suppose that'll have to remain a mystery.

The first line is "I scouted the town for two full days before going into it".