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In this volume that can be consumed in one reading, the author has managed to pack a buckboard full of violence, revenge, and retribution into a tale of the Southwest frontier during the mid-1800s. Writer Fischer pulls no punches as he traces the lives and misadventures of two unsavory characters seemingly destined for the viciousness that follows in their wake.
Armando is a young man in New Mexico, having to assume the duties of the family head as his worthless father drinks himself into oblivion when he's not abusing one of his daughters. Before striking out on his own, the son puts an end to his sister's maltreatment. Wolf is a Comanchero—a boy with a white father and a Comanche mother. He, too, commits patricide in defense of a loved one. Regardless of their similarly unfortunate upbringings, however, cruelty has apparently set a course that will continue to be part of both of their lives.
Additional characters are introduced and followed throughout the story, not the least of which is a good man named Matt. He's a deputy sheriff who has a loving family, a job he excels at, and a life that will soon be visited by tragedy. Eventually, all the players will come together in a conflagration of violence that will end only when individuals are made to atone for their sins.
Fischer tells his story well. His prose is direct and reads easily. While harsh, one finds the behavior of the principal players credible. Initially, the author provides background that enables readers to find sympathy for Armando and Wolf's turn to violence, but their continued use of brutality is neither sentimentalized nor in any way excused. In the end, one reaps what one sows.