The westward drive of Americans after the Civil War was unstoppable. For some, the vast territory meant new wealth and new opportunities. The ever-progressing railroads made many rich. Whereas others found their fortune selling the flesh of the less fortunate. In a brothel in Omaha, all manner of destinies intersect in a violent collision that many won't survive. This is the incredible story of Martha Cannary, a young woman who shrugged off what destiny had in store for her and made herself into a legend.

The Civil War may be over, but fighting rages on as the United States expands to the West. The Native Americans resist this expansion as best they can, often responding to the slaughter of their people with their own waves of violence. Amidst it all, there are cynical men who see only opportunity for profit, selling the guns that accelerate the bloodshed and preying on the vulnerable, be they Native or not. James Hickok, a former Union soldier turned bounty hunter, wants justice more than rewards. And he will not stop until the men who orphaned a young girl get what they have coming—whether at the end of a noose or the end of a gun barrel.

Revenge and cruelty collide as the West turns wilder than ever.The stage is set for more mayhem: Calamity Jane's Lakota husband has been killed, by none other than Wild Bill Hickok. Jane wants vengeance, but manages to find only the oblivion of the whiskey bottle. Bill, meanwhile, is doing his utmost to maintain order at a railroad construction site, against a backdrop of greed and racial tensions—and that's before a serial killer begins to sow terror among the locals. Unlikely alliances form as the fragile peace on the frontier is threatened on every front.