Told through the persona of narrator Tap McCoy, a renegade, drifter, loner, and well-seasoned cowboy we experience Tap's happen chance meeting with Dean McCuen, a young drugstore cowboy from back east. While Tap just wants a ride out of town, Dean believes he has found a sidekick and mentor. What follows between Tap and the tag-a-long greenhorn is a rousin', ramblin' tale of their exploits as they ride, rope, brand, and herd their way through ranches, pack stations and feedlots all over the West. It's also a tale of camaraderie and carousing as the two get thrown from their horses, tossed in jail, save lives, see deaths, fight cowboys, and light up the pages with their escapades. Mackey's unvarnished prose and salty style delight us with the life of a fading tradition. Publishers' Weekly said of Mackey, "a buckaroo himself," he spins a colorful yarn about 20th-century cowboys reminiscent of The Rounders." The novel stands on its own as a classic and unique story of an American way of life honoring the Western Lifestyle.
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