Everyone in the Arizona Territory who eyes an easy way to make a payout knows that Vulture City is the home to a prosperous gold mine. Nearly every stagecoach attempting to deliver the gold to the railroad at Maricopa has been ambushed on the trail--a trail known as the Gunpowder Express.
No one wants to ride the stagecoach and the gold from the mine is piling up. Newt "Widowmaker" Jones is in town and, having been taken advantage of by some of the town's locals, needs to make some money. Riding shotgun on a coach that's sure to be robbed is foolish at best, but since he's given his word that he'll get the locker full of gold to the railroad, where the Wells Fargo agents would take responsibility for it, he was going to do everything he could to live up to the promise.

Looking to cash in on this particular run was one bad hombre - Irish Jack O'Harrigan. There are plenty of places one might try to rob a stagecoach along the Gunpowder Express trail, and Irish Jack knows them all - but he doesn't know the Widowmaker.

This is the third book in the Widowmaker Jones series but the first one I've read. It seemed pretty clear that I was missing out on some background information about Widowmaker, but what I was missing did not seem to impact the story.

This is a pretty classic western. We know who the good guys are and who the bad guys are, and our hero is going to be tested - pushed to the limits - and there's going to be some shoot 'em up gun play. In this sense the book works really well.

Author Brett Cogburn sets up the story and paces it well. He tosses in a few surprises which makes it interesting and he keeps the action at just the right tempo - not so often that it gets repetitive and not so rare that we're wondering when something exciting will happen.

I liked our protagonist, but definitely didn't feel I got to know him too well here. I saw one side of him - that determination - but beyond that I can't say that I know him.

I'd like to go back and read the first two volumes in the series, and I'm definitely interested in reading future books in the series.

Looking for a good book? Gunpowder Express by Brett Cogburn is a tradition western story that is sure to please fans of the genre and could possibly get new readers interested in western fiction.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

this was a great western novel, I loved the characters and I really enjoyed the setting. Overall this was a great read and I look forward to more from the author.

Gunpowder Express is my first introduction to Brett Cogburn's books. Wow! It will not be the last. This one gets five stars from me.

GUNPOWDER EXPRESS by Brett Cogburn is the 3rd novel in the “Widowmaker Jones” series, and opens with Newt (aka “Widowmaker”) Jones in the midst of a bare knuckles boxing match against a larger veteran opponent.

Having come out of the match without any earnings, he finds himself waking up in a bed in an unfamiliar place, and is suffering the effects of the fight and the physical beating he has taken that apparently includes a pretty serious concussion, thereby sapping him of his strength; even after he’s on his feet again.

Finding himself having been taken care of by a beautiful and mysterious prostitute who seems to be a foreigner by her speech, he recognizes her as she has become well known and financially successful having survived the earlier years of her trade.

Accompanied by a man, she attempts to enlist Newt in guarding a wagon on a trip that would leave it’s precious cargo vulnerable to thieves along the way.

Newt initially rejects the offer, but finds himself desperate after being taken advantage of by the local sheriff and livery owner resulting in the loss of both horse and saddle.

Finding himself obligated to honor his commitment once he accepts the offer to protect the cargo and the lives of the pair who’ve hired him, he finds himself attracted to the mysterious and beautiful woman; yet he still has his doubts about the pair and the feeling of distrust never leaves him completely.

Further questions about the job he’s been hired for arise as he evaluates the rest of the crew hired to protect the shipment, and they seem to be on a par with the outlaws they hope to escape in their travels.

Solid western novel that has a good story with several characters that are difficult to get a handle on until events take place that reveal the true character of each person involved with the journey.

4 stars.

Written by a descendant of a great Western legend, you will expect a great story set in an authentic background with characters to match. That is what you get in Gunpowder Express. Circumstances can force a man to make a decision he might have shied away from if things were different. Our hero finds himself hired as a armed escort to a stage coach full of gold. The odds are not good that the stagecoach will make it through the Gunpowder Express. A stretch of trail so named because there are so many guns trying to either make it through or stop the coach for the gold. One way or another, there is going to be a fight.
I;m a huge Johnstone fan but I can make room on my TBR list for more Brett Cogburn books!

In Brett Cogburn's Gunpowder Express (Pinnacle 2019), Newt Jones may be famous as the 'widow maker' but right now he’s just broke. He agrees to fight the town of Vulture's local tough guy for a $100 purse--not much but he needs the money. The problem is, when it looks like he'll win, the bully cheats and Jones ends up battered and still broke. He recovers, barely and still broke and agrees to guard a shipment of gold traveling along the infamous Gunpowder Express which everyone is sure will be robbed. He'd be stupid to do it but his horse is in hock and his horse is his best friend. So, he agrees to the job. That’s when the excitement starts and everything goes to heck.

This story is slower moving than many other westerns I've read but with the authentic detail that grabs my old west imagination and a compelling plot with enough twists and turns to keep me reading. 

--to be published on my blog, WordDreams 2/20