What do you think?
Rate this book
Widowmaker Jones #3
Gunpowder Express
From Spur Award-winning author, Brett Cogburn--great grandson of legendary Rooster Cogburn--comes the third book in the exciting Widowmaker Jones series.
Arizona's Vulture City is home to a prosperous gold mine and every badman west of the Pecos knows it. 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 for the bullet-riddled bodies along the way.
With gold piling up and a lack of volunteers to transport it, the mine owner hires Newt "Widowmaker" Jones to ride shotgun on the next stage. Foolhardy and desperate for money, Newt joins three other guards--and a passenger, Jenny Blake, a stubborn firebrand with her own stake in seeing the delivery through. But waiting on the Gunpowder Express is Irish Jack O'Harrigan and his band of outlaws. There's not a soul alive he wouldn't think twice about putting six feet under. But he's never traded lead with the man known as Widowmaker . . .
Arizona's Vulture City is home to a prosperous gold mine and every badman west of the Pecos knows it. 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 for the bullet-riddled bodies along the way.
With gold piling up and a lack of volunteers to transport it, the mine owner hires Newt "Widowmaker" Jones to ride shotgun on the next stage. Foolhardy and desperate for money, Newt joins three other guards--and a passenger, Jenny Blake, a stubborn firebrand with her own stake in seeing the delivery through. But waiting on the Gunpowder Express is Irish Jack O'Harrigan and his band of outlaws. There's not a soul alive he wouldn't think twice about putting six feet under. But he's never traded lead with the man known as Widowmaker . . .
- GenresWesterns
328 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 31, 2019
55 people are currently reading
38 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
February 9, 2020
I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley to read and review.
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.
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.
November 11, 2019
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.
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.
January 13, 2020
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!
I;m a huge Johnstone fan but I can make room on my TBR list for more Brett Cogburn books!
May 10, 2021
This review originally published in Looking For a Good book. Rated 3.5 of 5
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.
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.
July 30, 2023
It's easy for me to see why this author has been nominated by the Western Writers of America for the Spur award. For me, it is the historical/technical accuracy that makes his stories so realistic. I'm impressed by his ability to insert historical figures and places into his tales. I like the fact that he is aware that there were a plethora of different firearms that the characters arm themselves with. Though we are aware that Colt and Smith & Wesson were the most popular, there were other brands. I like when he points out that a revolver has been refitted to accept metallic cartridges, indicating he knows how that technical advancement changed the west. He even gets the black powder smoke right. I enjoy the author's notes at the end of each novel-- this time he shocked me-- there really was a mine with that silly name-- and it really did produce a lot of wealth-- and it did have problems breaking even...
So, he gets all the technical details right. Then, he gets his character right. His character is not a deadeye shot. He isn't a superhero translated into the old west. He's just a guy trying to survive and the most important possession he has is his own integrity.... In each of the three novels I've read-- he is driven to keep his word, even when it has become next to impossible. This time, he is down and out and forced to take a job guarding a shipment of gold. He would prefer to avoid the violence, the shootouts, the fights (though he does occasionally sign up as a prizefighter)-- but when you are broke in the old west, you take whatever job you can find. And he's not even a good looking man, scarred up from his attempts at survival-- A handsome Hollywood actor could not play this part.
There are a number of interesting characters, and most of them are not what they seem. This is a novel full of cross and double-cross-- with Jones caught in the middle of other people's machinations. Some of the other people in the story are like Jones, simply trying to survive.
Cogburn moves the action along, but provides enough dialogue to reveal where the characters have been and where they want to be-- to make certain that in the midst of the action, characterization is not forgotten.
I believe I've found my new favorite western author.
So, he gets all the technical details right. Then, he gets his character right. His character is not a deadeye shot. He isn't a superhero translated into the old west. He's just a guy trying to survive and the most important possession he has is his own integrity.... In each of the three novels I've read-- he is driven to keep his word, even when it has become next to impossible. This time, he is down and out and forced to take a job guarding a shipment of gold. He would prefer to avoid the violence, the shootouts, the fights (though he does occasionally sign up as a prizefighter)-- but when you are broke in the old west, you take whatever job you can find. And he's not even a good looking man, scarred up from his attempts at survival-- A handsome Hollywood actor could not play this part.
There are a number of interesting characters, and most of them are not what they seem. This is a novel full of cross and double-cross-- with Jones caught in the middle of other people's machinations. Some of the other people in the story are like Jones, simply trying to survive.
Cogburn moves the action along, but provides enough dialogue to reveal where the characters have been and where they want to be-- to make certain that in the midst of the action, characterization is not forgotten.
I believe I've found my new favorite western author.
April 29, 2024
Третият роман за Убиецът Джоунс се оказа точно това, което исках да прочета като уестърн, когато посегнах към първата книга.
(Отварям скоба. И преди казах, че използвам наследствен превод за Widowmaker от поредицата на Майк Резник със същото име. Тя така и така, заедно с трилогията за Гадателката, си е космически уестърн. Ала започвам да се чудя дали да не вкарам нова българска дума Вдовотворец – звучи доста респектиращо.)
Нют отново е без пукната пара и отново работи в мина. Притиснат финансово се замесва в платен бой, но противникът му го прасва нечестно с нещо в юмрука си. Едва жив, спасен от проститутка, Нют е без работа, без цент и местния шериф се комбинира със зет си – коняр, да го изстискат за гледането на добре известния ни шантав жребец с индиански жиг. Убиецът няма избор, освен да се впусне в поредната авантюра, а именно да се цани охрана на Барутния Експрес – дилижанс с добития от мината благороден метал, плюс личните спестявания на гореспоменатата проститутка. Проблемът е, че целият див запад знае какво превозва Барутния Експрес, а един определен бандит е решил да не го остави да стигне до крайната си дестинация. Това ще доведе до много пукотевица, засади и още повече предателства и сюжетно обрати, защото абсолютно всеки има нещо на ум, свързано с ценния товар. За лош късмет на всички лошковци, Нют е верен на думата си и умее да стреля и да млати.
Отново историческите бележки бяха топ, а Кобърн умее да изрисува пустинен и планински пейзаж както много малко автори, поне от тези на които съм попадал.
(Отварям скоба. И преди казах, че използвам наследствен превод за Widowmaker от поредицата на Майк Резник със същото име. Тя така и така, заедно с трилогията за Гадателката, си е космически уестърн. Ала започвам да се чудя дали да не вкарам нова българска дума Вдовотворец – звучи доста респектиращо.)
Нют отново е без пукната пара и отново работи в мина. Притиснат финансово се замесва в платен бой, но противникът му го прасва нечестно с нещо в юмрука си. Едва жив, спасен от проститутка, Нют е без работа, без цент и местния шериф се комбинира със зет си – коняр, да го изстискат за гледането на добре известния ни шантав жребец с индиански жиг. Убиецът няма избор, освен да се впусне в поредната авантюра, а именно да се цани охрана на Барутния Експрес – дилижанс с добития от мината благороден метал, плюс личните спестявания на гореспоменатата проститутка. Проблемът е, че целият див запад знае какво превозва Барутния Експрес, а един определен бандит е решил да не го остави да стигне до крайната си дестинация. Това ще доведе до много пукотевица, засади и още повече предателства и сюжетно обрати, защото абсолютно всеки има нещо на ум, свързано с ценния товар. За лош късмет на всички лошковци, Нют е верен на думата си и умее да стреля и да млати.
Отново историческите бележки бяха топ, а Кобърн умее да изрисува пустинен и планински пейзаж както много малко автори, поне от тези на които съм попадал.
August 7, 2023
Disclaimer.....this doesn't compare to Lonesome Dove. But then again, what does or ever will? It is, however, in a true western cliche....one rootin, tooting good time. But unlike so many in the western genre, several surprising twists abound. Maybe the good guys aren't very good, maybe not all the bad guys are totally bad. There are a few "gray" characters that make it so much fun. As for Jones, a badass with a nickname he hates, he's not just a big, brawny but somewhat dumb goody doofus, this dude has brains and wit and used both. I don't like my protagonists to be dim witted brutes. Widowmaker Jones is not that. Four and a half!
May 22, 2020
EXCELLENT BOOK!
🤠🤠🤠🤠🤠👍👍👍👍👍
Excellent knowledge of the Arizona Territory. Been to all the Cities, areas talked about in the book, so it all seemed familiar to me.
The twist on the "Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine" explanation is excellent!
Especially enjoyed his humorous "Blazing Saddles" Spirit Horse. . .farting, rolling around in the dirt. . .typical quirky horse stuff if you ever been around real horses with personality!!!🤠😂😆
🤠🤠🤠🤠🤠👍👍👍👍👍
Excellent knowledge of the Arizona Territory. Been to all the Cities, areas talked about in the book, so it all seemed familiar to me.
The twist on the "Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine" explanation is excellent!
Especially enjoyed his humorous "Blazing Saddles" Spirit Horse. . .farting, rolling around in the dirt. . .typical quirky horse stuff if you ever been around real horses with personality!!!🤠😂😆
January 29, 2020
Newt Jones is the kind of cowboy I love reading about. The only thing I would have liked was more background on him, BUT I cannot fault the book for that, as I realized too late it was #3 in a series... definitely will be reading more by Brett Cogburn.
March 13, 2020
a little hokey old west tale but some moments of interesting plot
May 26, 2021
Cogburn writes tough
The author does his research and I think he delivers novels more true to the time than most other Western novelists.
The author does his research and I think he delivers novels more true to the time than most other Western novelists.
September 3, 2021
Pretty good story, although some of it was predictable. Since I winter in Arizona, it was interesting to read of places I have been. Looking forward to reading the next story in this series.
January 30, 2025
A great read for a sick day. Just what the doctor ordered.
August 2, 2020
Brett Cogburn is one of my favorite authors. I have really enjoyed the Widowmaker Jones series and hope there is more to come.
February 13, 2020
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.
July 27, 2021
Gunpowder Express is the name of a fast coach. Heroes learn to ride and shoot fast.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews