It is the end of the year 1882 in Progress County in the Montana Territory, when young Merlin Fanshaw finds himself caught between the competing agendas of a ruthless outlaw, two very different lawmen, and one pretty girl. Thus begins the fact-paced adventure of Merlin, the Bodacious Kid, as he deals with gold, greed, and gunfire. But there is more to this story, within its pages and beneath the sweeping movement of its plot lies a deft and subtle examination of such unchanging and timeless topics such as character, morality, and the place of individual conscience in the life of Merlin, and in the lives of us all.