It should have been a routine prisoner pickup. But when Deputy U.S. Marshal Custis Long arrives in Curen Town, the young offender's father--who happens to run the town named after him--has no intentions of letting his son go to Denver for trial. When bribery and deception fail, Edward Curen, Sr., resorts to more desperate measures to stop Longarm--namely a $5,000 bounty on the lawman's head. Money like that is enough to turn decent townsfolk bloodthirsty--and it does. Now every dark alley of Curen Town may be hiding an assassin--man, woman, or child--and if Longarm aims to leave town in one piece, he'll need to shoot his way out.