John Chenneville is a Union soldier who fought bravely in The Civil War and received a serious head wound. He took a long time to recover, and when he was finally able to return to his family’s estate near St. Louis, he learns that his sister, her Confederate husband, and their baby have been brutally murdered by a man who goes by the last name of Dodd. Knowing full well that he may be killed by Dodd or imprisoned for taking the law into his own hands, Chenneville feels compelled to seek revenge. His pursuit of Dodd takes him all the way to San Antonio, sometimes on a horse, sometimes on foot. Along the way, he meets a number of interesting men and women.

This is the type of novel that starts out slowly, but gets better and better as it moves along. Patience will pay off. Chenneville has a well developed plot and a very interesting main character.