In the Texas Panhandle, Newt Bascom and Sam Jordan are stock detectives who have the brains to outwit most rustlers—and the brawn to outfight the rest. Now, Bascom and Jordan are being dispatched on a once-in-a-lifetime job. Someone has made off with a prized, imported English bull named Homer. The detectives have to bring Homer home... From Palo Duro Canyon through the Staked Plains, Bascom and Jordan pick up the trail of the missing bull—and the shadowy rustler who took him. And when Dodge City, run by an ornery Marshall named Earp, turns up empty, the detectives head into a wild land. Bluffing, bludgeoning and bragging their way into a smart, secretive and deadly criminal gang, Bascom and Jordan find their bull all right. But stealing back a critter who has love and leisure on his mind proves to be the easy part of the job. The hard part is getting back to Texas—with Homer and their lives...

マット・ブラウンの筆致が冴え渡る本作は、単なる西部劇の枠を超え、荒野に生きる男たちの矜持と機知を鮮烈に描き出しています。盗まれた名牛を追うという奇妙な任務を通じ、暴力が支配する時代の非情さと、人間臭いユーモアを等身大で描く手法は見事です。歴史の断片を織り交ぜた重厚な世界観は、読者を土埃舞うテキサスの最前線へと力強く引き込みます。 特筆すべきは、物理的な衝突以上に知略を尽くした心理戦の妙です。狡猾な組織への潜入といったスリルの中に、フロンティア・スピリットの本質が宿っています。命懸けの逃亡劇の中でさえ、標的への情愛が物語に温かさを添える。その硬軟併せ持った巧みな構成こそが、読者の魂を揺さぶり、ページを捲る手を止めさせない真の魅力なのです。