This contemporary Western novel opens by setting the backgrounds of three complete strangers whose lives are changed forever when their paths cross unexpectedly in San Francisco. Monty is a young cattle rancher, needing to buy some bulls at an important auction for his 16,000-acre ranch; Laura, a young computer professional in Montreal sent to San Francisco for a training course; and Ranny, a embittered laborer living and working in San Francisco. When circumstances bring them together one night at the Cow Palace, an initial violent act carries the three along in a frightening adventure. The...