The American West has long inspired intrigue and violence-everything from gunfights at the OK Corral to modern-day murders, scandals, and botched investigations that dominate the nation's headlines. With many of them based on actual events, this collection of short stories takes on the West in all of its treacherous guises: from the Old West, where Joaquim Murietta, the real-life inspiration for Zorro, battles California Rangers who are out for his head, to modern-day Montana, where one man's wealth takes him into the dark corners of the illegal artifacts trade and where another sees murder as a viable way to take over his neighbor's life. Bizarre, fascinating, and eminently imaginative, this veteran writer of America's last wild and secluded places shows us the West in all of its grim splendor, with just enough disguise to protect the guilty. Read Less