What's left of a man's soul when everything he loves is taken from him?

It's 1864, and Gabriel Cooper couldn't care less about the civil war raging around him. Framed for crimes he didn't commit, he's been sentenced to a Confederate chain gang, where swampland justice rules and alligators prey on the unwary.

So when Colonel Robert Tremont rides into camp offering freedom in exchange for fighting on the front lines, Gabriel jumps at the opportunity. He thrives as a soldier, but the end of the war leaves him adrift.

Gabriel ends up in New Orleans, where he meets Simone Livingston, a fiercely independent woman with hidden scars of her own. Kept on a tight rein by her overbearing father, Simone only wants freedom-and the enigmatic Gabriel.

But Gabriel has unfinished business and a mind for vengeance. Will he be able to create a peaceful life with Simone? Or will his greed and thirst for retribution keep them trapped in a dangerous web of deceit-a web Gabriel fears can only be untangled with murder?