Sheriff Amos Flagg returns with his outlaw father, Gunner, and his extraordinary cat, El Cazador the Hunter. The novel opens with the lingering question of whether or not Gunner has truly reformed. When Gunner takes off for Indian Country with a newspaperman from the East, Amos begins to suspect his old man is up to no good - again. And when he hears rumor of four of the most notorious killers in Texas had drifted into Sangaree County, Amos knows that Gunner must be involved somehow. These killers hadn't drifted into Sangaree County without purpose., they had one thing on their mind: making a deal with Amos Flagg for protection from the law. But the four gunmen found out fast that it wouldn't work. No one could make deals with a damn fool like Flagg. The only way to handle Flagg was on his own ground, and the only way to do it was to lure him into an ambush, strip off his badge, and kill him.