In the heart of West Texas an ocean of troubles has come ashoreand the Loner is adrift in a sea of hungry sharks. They came from the sea: a former ship captain named Owen Bird who inherited a Texas ranch from his brother A former pirate named Black Terrance Malone, who has arrived in the once peaceful Rattlesnake Valley with a crew of sea dogs to do his dirty work. And dirty work it would be, as Black Terrance begins a campaign of thieving and threatening, even targeting Bird's beautiful young niece. Into this storm rides the LonerConrad Morgan, son of the legendary gunfighter Frank Morgan. The Loner sees what no one else does: a war born on the high seas and a third party is biding his timewaiting to strike a death blow on solid, bloody ground