The story begins in the emergency room in Corinth Hospital in 1967 where a slightly wounded professor is brought in by a friend. The local reporter tries to flesh out the story, but his editor kills it, and all that is clear is that there was some sort of duel. It introduces the three main mail characters, John Dobrov, Turner Ashby DeLay, and Charley Steinke. Then there is a flashback to 1952, and the novel follows the stories of the three who are...