Rabid Reader's Reviews

Publication Date: February 27, 2014

 

Cooper Landon is injured and stranded and under great threat from Indians and Outlaws. He does have one thing on his side —the very capable former Indian captive bride Josie. Yancy and Rondo Landon set out to find Cooper against incredible odds. Will they find him in time? [easyazon-link asin=”1496133447″ locale=”us”]Cooper (The Landon Saga) (Volume 3)[/easyazon-link] is Book 3 in the Landon Family Saga.

 

 

The author, Tell Cotten, gave me a copy of this book in exchange for my review.

 

My dad and I recently discussed the first two books in the Landon Family Saga [easyazon-link asin=”1481806297″ locale=”us”]Confessions Of A Gunfighter[/easyazon-link] (click here for review) and [easyazon-link asin=”1491251891″ locale=”us”]Entwined Paths[/easyazon-link] (click here for review). He was delighted to hear that there is a third book in the series and not so delighted to hear that I had the book when he last visited my home and failed to load it on his e-reader. David, who introduced me to westerns via the likes of Louis Lamour and Larry McMurtry adores the writing of Tell Cotten. Cotten’s books are the no rules living by your own code of conduct because no one will make you live otherwise stories that westerns should be. Cotten captures the spirit and purpose of the westward expansion and gives a little boy growing up with John Wayne the sense of spirit recaptured.

[easyazon-link asin=”1496133447″ locale=”us”]Cooper (The Landon Saga) (Volume 3)[/easyazon-link] is a novel with a bit of a different feel from the rest of the series. The Landon Family is looking to the future. They all have sweethearts and plans involving those sweethearts that look toward the continuation of the Landon name. Easier planned than done in the days when you weren’t sure you’d live to see the next sunrise. There is a feeling of coming together of the other two stories in this book and some resolution though Cotten could easily continue the series and keep the reader engaged. And we do know that the series will go on as the work ends with an excerpt from Book 4 which will be titled “Rondo”.

Josie is a badass. Cotten, in his writing, tends to give his female characters capability and spirit to spare. In my review of [easyazon-link asin=”1491251891″ locale=”us”]Entwined Paths[/easyazon-link], I cited Jessica as no wilting violet but Josie makes her appear in comparison a swooning silent movie actress (though Jessica does appear in [easyazon-link asin=”1496133447″ locale=”us”]Cooper (The Landon Saga) (Volume 3)[/easyazon-link] in a significant way and makes an interesting transformation). Josie was kidnapped from her home and made an Indian bride and she learned much from that experience. She catches food without weapons, mends wounds with sticks and on Page 115 when they need someone to act as scout for a location, she’s there willing and volunteering doing-all, she coyly tells Cooper, “the Indian way”. Cotten gives us some moments of uncertainty early on when he needs her off-screen (in a manner of speaking) but this is not a woman who falls easily. She is the Wild West feminist movement without consciously aspiring to the title. She is just simply that self-reliant. If she stays with Cooper it’ll be because she wants to stay with Cooper and not because she needs him and I love that about her. The inclusion of this character in a normally male-driven genre makes this one of the better westerns I’ve read.

The nineteen-year-old and somewhat inept Sergeant Jason Wagons was another high point for me in this book. Cotten could have easily made this character and irredeemable buffoon but chose to humanize him as well as use him for some fun interchanges in his constant attempt to impress his superior, Yancy. The classic misdirect used by the baddish guys to have access to Yancy’s prisoner never gets old. They flatter, he preens and they get to ask the prisoner where he hid the money. While Wagons idolizes Yancy, he is not Cooper’s biggest fan and when the going gets tough and they need to work together Wagons resists the help that will serve to save his own butt.

Readers of this blog may note that I spent a significant amount of time writing about the characters and that is because Cotten’s work is character driven. Over the course of the now trilogy characters have evolved and expanded and to a man (and women) have become more interesting instead of less. Some bad, some not so bad and some good as is the way of the world. Cotten’s settings are strong. His novels are not set anywhere but where they are and the setting itself is something of a bonus character, but it is the people that makes the series and will keep readers coming back for more.

If you like westerns or have a loved one that enjoys a down and dirty trip to the Wild West click through to Amazon and buy the Landon Family Saga by Tell Cotten. They run at the $2.99 to $3.05 price point for e-readers and are engaging, entertaining and engrossing. These are the books that are impossible to put down and leave you wanting more. Read an excerpt and buy Cooper by Tell Cotten on:

Amazon U.S. • Amazon U.K. • Amazon Canada

Tell Cotten is a seventh generation Texas and raises cattle in West Texas. [easyazon-link asin=”1496133447″ locale=”us”]Cooper (The Landon Saga) (Volume 3)[/easyazon-link] is his third novel. His first novel, [easyazon-link asin=”1481806297″ locale=”us”]Confessions Of A Gunfighter[/easyazon-link] won a number of awards including the honor of  Best New Western in the Laramie Awards.

For more information about Tell Cotten and his work, visit his website. You can connect with him on Goodreads, Facebook and Twitter @TellCotten.