Red Mask #52

Young Jeff Grant survives a devastating raid that costs him everything, and three years of isolation leave him unable to trust anyone—until a traveling magician named Doc Crowell takes him in and teaches him the art of illusion. When a gunman from Doc's past catches up with them and strikes Doc down, Jeff vows to find his mentor's killer, taking on a masked identity inspired by Doc's stage costume and armed not with firearms, but with magic tricks and the skills he's honed in the years since. Now the Presto Kid pursues justice on his own terms, using misdirection and ingenuity instead of bullets.

Stubborn Sam, the Mountain Man refuses to vote in the mayoral race between the honest blacksmith Oscar and the gun-slinging Dead-Eye Danbury, no matter how hard mountain man Muley Pike tries to convince him. When Sam finally heads to town set on voting against Oscar, Pike must use all his wits—and a timely lightning strike—to change the ornery hermit's mind before midnight.

When a stagecoach robbery lands Mex Lallapoosa in jail, Red Mask finds himself torn between duty and conviction—all the witnesses finger his friend, but something doesn't sit right. Then Red Mask catches a glimpse of Mex fleeing the scene, and what unfolds is a tense game of doubles, mistaken identities, and a desperate plan to trap the real culprit while clearing his innocent cook's name.