First published 2022
Al Swearengen runs the Gem Saloon in a mud-soaked mining camp where gold draws desperate men and women to the edge of civilization. Seth Bullock arrives as the new sheriff, determined to bring order to streets ruled by violence and greed. Wild Bill Hickok plays poker in smoky back rooms while Calamity Jane drinks away her sorrows. Doc Cochran tends to bullet wounds and broken bones with whiskey as his only anesthetic. Trixie works the saloon floors while dreaming of escape. The camp grows from a collection of tents into something resembling a town, but progress comes at a price measured in blood and betrayal. Power shifts between those who would impose law and those who profit from chaos. Each character faces a choice between survival and conscience in a place where both seem impossible to maintain.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, mystery, 19th-century
Vibes: dark, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, fish-out-of-water
Setting: Deadwood, Gem Saloon
Period: 19th Century
511 pages · Hardcover · MZS Press
Content warnings: violence