Willie Welters, a fourteen year old boy, is gunned down over a bucket of water. Rhea Turner, the richest man in Stonewall County, is arrested for the murder, but is set free by a jury dominated by his friends in a kangaroo court conducted by the corrupt Mack Narry. Lisbeth Welters, Willie's mother, mails a letter to her kin in Arkansas and soon a series of bloody knife attacks shatter the shadowy hours. Who is the midnight attacker? Some say it's the stranger who rode into town on a buckskin mule. Others point the finger at the young attorney, Carl Anniston. Or, is it Doc Puckett, Sam Norwood, or Lisbeth Welters? Even Shug Tolar, the sheriff, is haunted by the memories of a bloody revenge. Who is the assailant with a bloody knife? How many people will be maimed or killed before the thirst for vengeance is satisfied?
