After Being Booted Out of law school at the height of the Great Depression, young Okie Dunn returns to his hometown, Vernon, only to discover that the world he left behind is falling apart. And when his childhood friend, Sheriff Dub Ready, is killed, Okie takes over the job, swearing to bring the killer to justice.But Okie soon learns that the search for truth can be a difficult and dangerous business. And when he tries to connect Dub's murder to the brutal slaying of Dub's parents two years earlier, Okie finds himself pitted against his lifelong friends, business associates, and a cold-blooded killer.