What would you do if you had an impossible choice to make? That's the dilemma facing Ryder Mann on his wedding day. Should he marry the woman he loves, or run off to war? Ryder choses war. It's 1898, and the country's at war with Spain. As one of Roosevelt's Rough Riders, he fights his way up San Juan Hill in Cuba. After the war, everywhere he goes, he's a hero. Except in his home town of Brannan, New Mexico, where he's met with contempt and hatred. He left behind a fine woman, who gave birth to their baby girl. But the baby dies while he is away. So his former bride is shamed, treated like a tramp. Ryder's parents reject him. His friends despise him. And his former bride? Hate is a mild word compared to what she feels. Only his little brother still loves him. The hate and anger drives him away. He wanders the West, taking one bad job after another, until filled with shame, he disappears into the wilderness to die. An Arizona Ranger finds and recruits him, giving him a new purpose. Now he hunts down outlaws and brings them to justice. He lives by two maxims: The Law is the law, and Justice must be done. Then one day a telegram arrives from his mother: Come Home Quick. How can he go home? He knows the hate awaiting him. He doesn't want to, but he returns. Late one night, after days of travel, he knocks on his parents door. His mother rushes out. He expects forgiveness and love. After all, he's been gone for several years. Instead, she beats him, screaming: "Where were you? You could have saved him!" Then he learns his brother, barely thirteen, has been hanged for murder. The next day, his father visits him in town. He asks Ryder to find out why his son was hanged. And who really killed the victim. What can Ryder do? As a lawman, he only knows how to hunt down outlaws. He knows nothing about detective work. Yet he must try. His father depends upon him. And Ryder needs to know the truth, too. He loved his brother. Rage over his brother's execution, and fear of his former bride's hatred, hamper him. But Justice must be done. As he investigates, he finds conflicting stories about the events. His brother signed a confession stating he shot the victim in the back. But the local doctor claims the bullet entered the victim's chest, not his back. Ryder wonders if it was murder or an accident. But if an accident, why'd his brother sign a confession? And if it's an accident and Ryder finds the real killer, will the Law accept that, or will it hang another innocent person? Then there is his former bride. He still loves her, but she hates him. His father counsels him to let her go. But how can he? Yet he must, or he will never find peace. There's also a dangerous young gunman who is killing people around town. And then there' his bride's brother. He's seeking revenge for his sister shame. At every turn, Ryder faces fists or bullets, while he considers for the first time if Justice is best served by mercy or punishment. Can he survive long enough to find the truth? And when he finds the real killer, will that person deserve mercy or death? And what of Ryder? He wants forgiveness. But does he deserve redemption?