[3] Geronimo leads a group of Apaches who escape the San Carlos reservation in southeastern Arizona in the summer of 1886.
Geronimo, who is both military leader and medicine man, uses guerilla tactics to lead his men in battle against the United States Cavalry.
[4] Webster Schott of The New York Times wrote that the book contains "moments of poetry" when it covers Geronimo's role as a spiritual leader.
Schott wrote that although Carter is insightful, his desire to cover history makes the novel suffer when it "trails off into lecture".
[4] Kirkus Reviews wrote that Geronimo's spiritual visions are the book's backbone and called the novel "less than totally enthralling or convincing but vivid, richly colored, and often fiercely effective".