The Man Who Hated Hickok — C.M. Wendelboe

It's 1876 and Cheyenne--long a haven for thugs and thieves--has taken on an air of civility. Until Wild Bill Hickock comes to town and humiliates a local gunman's mentally-challenged brother to the point of suicide. Ira Drang promptly vows to hunt Wild Bill and kill him. Broke, Ira takes work as a shotgun messenger on the notorious Cheyenne to Deadwood stage--to make it across the Black Hills after Wild Bill. It's a sporadic route through rough country fraught with road agents robbing whatever scraps the Indian raiders leave behind. So, it's no surprise when the stage is held up just out of Cheyenne--by Ira's longtime rival. His daughter was murdered, and he knows the killer is on that stage. Ira understands that nothing will stop him--just as nothing will stop Ira's pursuit of Wild Bill.