Frank Rule is not a typical Llano Estacado cowboy. While moving his family out of the Rio Grande Valley, disaster befalls the Rule family. Forced to live alone in the isolation of the Texas Panhandle, eventually Frank falls into periods of hallucination where he's visited by the spirit of his dead wife at night and the devil during the day. Despite these struggles, he develops a reputation for solving mysteries and avenging wrongs. Now all Frank has to do is get control of his own life. The adventures of this 1860s paladin are often intriguing, sometimes frightening, and they open a window to the past on a harsh frontier.