The Civil War left Clete Slater with three things: a price on his head for a crime he didn't commit, his new assumed name of Slate Creed, and a savage thirst for vengeance. To follow the trail of his brother's killers, he left his family, the girl he intended to marry, and his ravaged Texas home-town behind. The Union Army wants Creed, dead or alive. But even far from Texas in the wide-open gambling dens of New Orleans, the bluecoats are just a hoofbeat behind. With luck, Creed might escape the bloodthirsty bluecoats. But if they don't get him, a certain snake of a card cheat, exposed by Creed,  just might...