Ray Hogan (1908-1998) was born in Missouri but spent his life in New Mexico. His father was a Western marshal and lawman. He has written over 100 books. His work has been translated into 16 languages and filmed.
This book covers the events over two days in a small frontier town north of the Mexican border. A group of outlaws on the run from a botched bank robbery take the opportunity to switch to kidnap and ransom to try to get rich quick. The book tells the story of how the deputy sheriff deals with this situation.