A storm forced Blake Durant to seek shelter in a broken-down roadhouse. That was where he first met the mysterious gunman-gambler called Parrant. And it was also the moment Blake's life turned upside-down ... because Parrant turned out to be trouble all the way.The next time they met, it was through a curtain of gunsmoke. Men died during that confrontation, and Blake found himself being hunted by a town marshal and a vicious prison guard, both of whom wanted to see him swing from a gallows. In order to prove his innocence, Blake had to make his way back to the roadhouse to find someone to vouch for him – but all he found when he got there were more bodies. All at once he could feel that noose growing ever tighter around his throat ...