Ry Tyler is in no doubt; he has recently seen his old friend Slim Freeman alive and kicking. So how come Freeman's grave is on Boot Hill? Tyler's search for the truth leads him into a world of intrigue and danger, where nothing is as it seems. What about the marshal and his deputy? What about Sadie Roundtree and the oldster, Diamondback Casey? Can he count on anybody? And that's before the notorious Lassiter gang arrives in town. Are they involved somehow? Does the island in the middle of Green Fork River with its decaying riverboat wreck hold a clue to the answers? Tyler must follow a long trail till he arrives at the final time of reckoning.