An intense story of 1863 in a frontier town where Union and Confederate supporters, Mexicans, ex-slaves, French, Commanches and a whole disparate bunch of deserters, renegades and opportunists come together to survive and flourish, or not. Essentially the main thread is about southern jaded gentleman Clay, his longtime friend Isaac and former wife Allie. Clay is spying for the Confederates, or is he a double agent for the Unionists, Isaac longs for freedom for all slaves and Allie comes to Matamoros as a widow trying to establish or revive the cotton business of her husband. No-one is quite what they seem. There is a lot of depth and a lot of description of a bustling, dangerous, exciting, frontier town with a lot of squalour and a lot of aspirations. A lot of read to keep you engrossed. Thanks to NetGalley and Pen Wild Press for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.