This book is a wild ride through 1906 San Fransico. April 8, 1906, is when the earthquake and great fire hit the frontier town of San Fransico hard. Over 3,000 people lost their lives during this and there was untold property damage. It still remains one of the worst and deadliest disasters to ever occur in the United States. This book's descriptions of both this earthquake and the terrible fire is stark and real, mostly because of the minimalist language that Mr. Kalteis uses. Through it all, we have the unlikely heroes of Levi and Mack. Mack is Levi's nephew and Levi has just gotten out from serving a stint in Quentin for robbery. Levi was involved in a heist at the Mint, where $30,000 in coins were stolen and never found. Levi does not reveal where the loot is hidden the whole time he was in jail, but he's come back to San Francisco to claim it. San Francisco was a lawlesss town in these days, and there are lots of crooks, lay-abouts and murderers all around, and the police are as corrupt as the crooks they're supposed to catch. This story is a gritty, graphic story of revenge gone awry. As they say, "The best laid plans of mice and men" - all gone to pot because of a phenomenon of nature and the resulting catastrophe caused by it. This is a fast read, and well worth your time if you like frontier stories just told straight from the hip. You will find that you too will be rooting for the crook Levi. He's one of the most likeable bad men you'll ever meet. ( )