David Griffith has lived around packers and outfitters, loggers and cowboys-and always with horses. His books showcase an intimate knowledge of cowboy life and the land, from northern British Columbia to the Sierra Madre of Mexico. With his wife Patricia, he still runs a cattle ranch in the big river country of British Columbia.

In a firefight with a drug cartel, Lonnie Bowers barely escapes with his life. Mind you, this isn't the first time, but the weariness and constant anticipation of impending death has forced him to reassess his future.

When Clarissa tells him the Blackwater Ranch is for sale, he scoffs. How could they afford it? Are he and Clarissa cut out for that kind of isolation? Do they have the grit and determination to make it as back country ranchers? Lonnie has promised he'd quit the rodeo trail-and intelligence work in Mexico. But machinery breaks, ranch payments need to be made, and he has a family to feed. Lonnie's qualified to go to Calgary, the richest rodeo of them all. A win there would solve all their financial problems. Can he still compete with all the young riders?

Then, the agent who has saved his life countless times disappears into Mexico, apparently hell-bent on a one man mission of vengeance. The company's response is blunt. Get him out, or we'll eliminate him. Can Lonnie walk away?