"Zeke Smith is a drifter, a former bounty hunter, army scout, and lawman trying to escape from, and make up for, his violent and passionate past. Along his journey of self-imposed penance and exile, he aids others in difficulty wherever he stops and stays. Arriving in the quiet Arizona town of Pleasant Grove, he discovers that the town does not live up to its name. A corrupt marshal and his criminal deputies run roughshod and unchecked over the citizens of Pleasant Grove and surrounding farms. Employed as a hired hand for local widow Rebecca Stevens, her young son, Willie, and her mother-in-law on their homestead, Zeke soon discovers that mysterious deaths have occurred in the area, including that of Rebecca's husband, during the marshal's tenure. He sets out to investigate the reason for the killings, allegedly committed by local Apaches, and runs afoul of the lawmen along the way. The quest for justice brings on a violent confrontation between Zeke, the deputies, and the marshal, with Zeke's own life at risk to save the town"--