In Hangtree, Texas, any day could be your last.

For on the heels of the Civil War, Hangtree is drawing gamblers, fast women and faster gunmen. Amidst the brawls and shooting, the land-grabbing and card-sharking, two men barely hold the boomtown together: Yankee Sam Heller and Texan Johnny Cross. Heller and Cross can't stand the sight of each other. And Hangtree needs them more than ever. A Comanche named Red Hand leads a horde of warriors on a horrific path of bloodshed and destruction, with Hangtree sitting right in Red Hand's path.

For a town bitterly divided, for Heller and Cross, the time has come to unite and stand shoulder to shoulder—and fight, live or die for their little slice of heaven called Hangtree.