SPUR AWARD-WINNING AUTHORROD MILLEROrphaned, homeless, and on the verge of manhood, Wilson Hayes finds refuge in the employ of powerful rancher Jesse Longmore. Cowboy skills, tenacity, and grit propel the young man's rise to a powerful position on the Fishhook Ranch and membership in the family-but Longmore's belief that he has become a threat results in his driving Hayes away and into the uncomfortable company of an outlaw band and then a rival rancher. Follow Wilson Hayes on an empire-building quest of biblical proportions as he seeks a way home to the Fishhook."Rod Miller has been taking home those Spur Awards, and it's no small wonder. He's a cowboy who writes like one, and even talks like one. But he's got a real grip on the genre with Cold as the Clay. Don't read it in an isolated line shack, it's a tough story by a master storyteller." -Dusty Richards, Western Writers Hall of Fame author