In spite of becoming known as the most successful author of stories of the old West, Zane Grey did get criticized. One New York literary critic said, "Grey possesses no merit whatsoever either in style or in substance." Another scathingly wrote, "The substance of any two Zane Grey books could be put on the back of a postage stamp." Such remarks resulted from envy of his success. This book has all the ingredients of cowboys, horses, boots, and spurs, in a period of lawlessness that often brought on gunfights in those days. The cowboy hero is Panhandle Smith, known as Pan, as he grew to be wild and free virtually from childhood. The tale prompts seeing, hearing, and feeling what it was like in those bygone days.