No one within fifty miles of Whiskey Crossing, Texas, could match Carp Varner's skill with a sidearm. No one could match his murderous temper either. But when his half-cocked bid for mayor yielded only one vote in his favor -- having voted for himself -- his fury razed the tiny town to the ground in a blaze of flames and hot lead. Showing up in Apache Springs to offer his services as a gunsmith, Varner even gets on the good side of Sheriff Cotton Burke. But when Burke learns of Varner's true nature -- and past crimes -- he unleashes an inferno of his own to see justice done.