Roxy receives a message from Robert Pinkerton who says her father has been spotted near Blackhawk, Colorado. Roxy goes there, arriving broke and discovers there’s a circus in town sponsoring a sharpshooting contest, with a first prize of $500. If she could win, the money would fund her search for her father for months. The attraction in the contest is the circus’s own sharpshooter, Bill Weatherly. While in Blackhawk, competing in the contest, someone takes a shot at her. It turns out later that there’s a man traveling with the circus who is hiding out because he heard Gavin Doyle was on his trail. When he realizes Roxy is a Doyle, he thinks she’s working with her father. Roxy meets the odd characters who work with the circus, while attempting to find out who wants her dead and also trying to win the $500. J.R. Roberts (Robert J. Randisi) is an American author who writes in the Detective and Western genres. He has authored more than 500 published books and has edited more than 30 anthologies of short stories. Booklist magazine said he "may be the last of the pulp writers." He co-founded and edited Mystery Scene magazine and co-founded the American Crime Writers League. He founded The Private Eye Writers of America in 1981, where he created the Shamus Award. 2013: Mr. Randisi received the President's Award (which recognizes a major career contribution to excellence in Western literature) from the ReadWest Foundation.