Cape Hell: Page Murdock is ordered to Cape Hell, Mexico, to verify a report that former Confederate Captain Oscar Childress is raising an army to take over Mexico City--and turn north to rekindle the Civil War. Unable to talk himself out of the mission, Murdock heads south on a steam train named El Espanto--The Ghost.

The book of Murdock: Murdock dons a clerical collar to worm his way into the confidences of the wary residents of Owen, Texas. Seems a gang of ruthless bandits is terrorizing the Texas panhandle and all evidence points to the dusty cattle town as their base of operations. Murdock aims to unmask the gang, provided he can pass himself off as a preacher long enough to stay alive.