A card shark's son, Jim Canning should have learned early about dirty deals. He began to get the idea, though, when a jury sent him up to Huntsville on a phony charge.<br/>That's where he found out about a poker face, courtesy of some guards whose skill with hickory clubs taught him how to keep his mouth and his face blank.<br/>But the final touch to his education came parole. To get his land back and clear himself he needed a gun. If he used it he'd break his parole and rot in jail. If he didn't use it he'd rot six feet under.<br/>Jim Canning was still playing against a stacked deck.