As marshal of Abilene, Kansas, Tom Smith brought law and order to the toughest, wildest cattle town in the West. Outlaws and desperados lived in mortal fear of him, but he used a gun only twice in his life. His weapons were courage and a pair of deadly fists.

Born in the slums of New York City, Tom earned his living selling newspapers and working in a saddlery. When he was fifteen, a famous fight promoter saw him beat up a street hoodlum and, impressed by his spunk, trained him as a professional boxer. Billed as "The Newsboy Terror", Tom won all his bouts and became a celebrity at twenty. But his mother begged him to give up his boxing career and he joined the police force, patrolling the most dangerous areas of New York. Plagued by remorse when he accidentally shot a thief in the back, he resigned from the police force and resolved never again to carry a gun. Wandering West he roamed the frontier and finally met his destiny in Abilene, Kansas.

No one had been able to enforce the law in Abilene; the town was too rough, overrun with gamblers, roistering cowboys, bullies. To Tom Smith this presented a challenge and he was sworn in as marshal. He refused to carry firearms, and maintained law and order by the force of his fists and his complete fearlessness.

Victimized by intrigue, Tom was forced to resign as marshal and leave town. Then he learned that Abilene had fallen back into the old, lawless depravity. No family was safe, no man dared fight the terror of gang rule. No man but Tom Smith....

This is the fantastic but true story of a man who lived violently yet hated violence; who longed for peace but never found it. Tom Smith was one of the great heroes of the West, and his story adds fresh, new excitement to a most thrilling period of American history.

From the book