"The American West in the early 1960s appears to be a pastoral paradise. Aspiring novelist Aaron Holland Broussard has observed it from the open door of a boxcar, riding the rails for both inspiration and odd jobs. Jumping off in Denver, he finds work on a farm and meets Jo Anne McDuffy, a college student and gifted painter. Their connection is immediate, but their romance is complicated by Joanne's involvement with a professor who is mixed up with a cult. When a businessman and his son who wield their influence through vicious cruelty set their sights on Aaron, it is clear that he will have to face down all these foes to save the life of the woman he loves and his own"--Page 4 of cover.