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Ned Cody #2
Mojave Showdown
The Mojave is out of Sheriff Ned Cody's jurisdiction, but his two best friends are barely alive, and in the hands of a desert madman...and Cody is willing to ride into the depths of hell itself to bring them back alive. The lawman will either rule the desert sands, or be buried in them. Mojave Showdown, another L. J. Martin classic western in the Louis L'Amour tradition.
- GenresWesterns
188 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 1988
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 26, 2013
I can't say I liked this book quite as much as Nemesis, but they are both up there with some of the best Westerns...no, best books...I have ever read. First, this is a Western, good guys v. bad guys, not an insipid Western Romance. It must be quite a literary challenge to portray the frustration and hardship of a long, difficult search without passing the characters' drudgery onto the reader, and cutting to the other stories is a great way to handle it and keep the pages turning. So, the plot never dragged, with several stories running simultaneously, until they finally converge in the most fascinating ways. It is a book full of richly-drawn and fascinating characters as well as a perilous search and rescue--well, two perilous searches and rescues. I'm no expert, but the author seems to have put in a lot of work keeping the historical and geographical milieus authentic and almost as much of a character in the story as the humans and the animals. I truly appreciate such efforts.
April 11, 2013
The usual GREAT read you come to expect from Martin.
February 22, 2021
Larry Martin – Ned Cody, Bk 2 – Mojave Showdown – Reviewed 2/19/20
Ned will keep going till either he rescues his men or dies!
When the mules from the borax wagons of the Harmony Borax works were stolen, the county deputy, Jim Jackson, sent for his boss, Ned Cody, the Sherriff of Kern County. Arriving in town Ned was told what the situation was. It seems one Indian by the name of Mangas Saragosa, shot the Master skinner and swamper for each rig, the other driver and swamper waited a while and then cut the stock loose. Then Saragosa ran the stock off (18 head of mules, plus 2 geldings) and the men hoofed it back to Mojave and informed Jackson.
The thing about these mules, which were called spans, was that they were specially trained for the borax wagons. They are paired, trained together, and kept together, they cost several thousand dollars each and could be easily sold due to this.
Ned was also told that some years back some miners got a little carried away and killed most of Mangas Saragosa’s family and most of his tribe. Saragosa started taking out his revenge on the miners and had wanted posters on him for killing seven of them. Ned had hired his two best friends to join him on the search, plus they had a couple of Shoshones for guides.
And the story begins…
What did I like? This is the second book in the Ned Cody series, I fell in love with the young Ned and certainly enjoyed the first book. This one sure shows off his determination and his loyalty to his friends. Plus, it also shows the pride he had in getting the job done. Ned has his hands full, dealing with the situation, the stubbornness of the guides, the slackness of the remaining deputy, and the grit of finding his prey. No matter the time of the year, the desert has its own way, either boiling hot or dropping to very cold at night. The snakes, lizards, jackrabbits, gophers, Cayotes, spiders and vultures are all just trying to stay alive, so do not stop too long, and be sure to check the clothes before putting them back on! All of this is part of the hazards of tracking in the desert. Not to mention the fact that there is little water. Larry spells out all the dangers that Ned faced, which brought it all to life for me!
What will you like? Action, mystery, intrigue, area history, emotional, and certainly interesting. Larry is one of the most prolific writers that will take the time to make sure what he is writing about is correct in the time, clothing, scenery, towns, animals, and just about anything that you can think of to make a story readable. It is like an enjoyable history lesson when you read his books. His descriptions take a flat page or eBook and make them come to life in your mind. You can almost picture yourself walking behind the characters and seeing it just as they do, smell the fragrances, feel what they feel, and enjoy the triumphs or defeats along with them. Here is another awesome read from one of our favorite authors!
• File Size: 646 KB
• Print Length: 188 pages
• Publication Date: 3/18/2019
• Publisher: Wolfpack Publishing
• ASIN: B07PZJRTQL
• Genre: Western Fiction Classics, Westerns, Classic Literature & Fiction
Ned will keep going till either he rescues his men or dies!
When the mules from the borax wagons of the Harmony Borax works were stolen, the county deputy, Jim Jackson, sent for his boss, Ned Cody, the Sherriff of Kern County. Arriving in town Ned was told what the situation was. It seems one Indian by the name of Mangas Saragosa, shot the Master skinner and swamper for each rig, the other driver and swamper waited a while and then cut the stock loose. Then Saragosa ran the stock off (18 head of mules, plus 2 geldings) and the men hoofed it back to Mojave and informed Jackson.
The thing about these mules, which were called spans, was that they were specially trained for the borax wagons. They are paired, trained together, and kept together, they cost several thousand dollars each and could be easily sold due to this.
Ned was also told that some years back some miners got a little carried away and killed most of Mangas Saragosa’s family and most of his tribe. Saragosa started taking out his revenge on the miners and had wanted posters on him for killing seven of them. Ned had hired his two best friends to join him on the search, plus they had a couple of Shoshones for guides.
And the story begins…
What did I like? This is the second book in the Ned Cody series, I fell in love with the young Ned and certainly enjoyed the first book. This one sure shows off his determination and his loyalty to his friends. Plus, it also shows the pride he had in getting the job done. Ned has his hands full, dealing with the situation, the stubbornness of the guides, the slackness of the remaining deputy, and the grit of finding his prey. No matter the time of the year, the desert has its own way, either boiling hot or dropping to very cold at night. The snakes, lizards, jackrabbits, gophers, Cayotes, spiders and vultures are all just trying to stay alive, so do not stop too long, and be sure to check the clothes before putting them back on! All of this is part of the hazards of tracking in the desert. Not to mention the fact that there is little water. Larry spells out all the dangers that Ned faced, which brought it all to life for me!
What will you like? Action, mystery, intrigue, area history, emotional, and certainly interesting. Larry is one of the most prolific writers that will take the time to make sure what he is writing about is correct in the time, clothing, scenery, towns, animals, and just about anything that you can think of to make a story readable. It is like an enjoyable history lesson when you read his books. His descriptions take a flat page or eBook and make them come to life in your mind. You can almost picture yourself walking behind the characters and seeing it just as they do, smell the fragrances, feel what they feel, and enjoy the triumphs or defeats along with them. Here is another awesome read from one of our favorite authors!
• File Size: 646 KB
• Print Length: 188 pages
• Publication Date: 3/18/2019
• Publisher: Wolfpack Publishing
• ASIN: B07PZJRTQL
• Genre: Western Fiction Classics, Westerns, Classic Literature & Fiction
May 27, 2018
#2 in the Ned Cody series and I hope there are more coming. If you read L.J. Martin, you already know he writes good westerns. Ned is the Sheriff of Bakersfield. When a Borax train is hijacked by a crazed, sharpshooting Indian and two of Cody's friends are seriously wounded, Ned gives chase. Add to the mix Poontang Pete, a seemingly hermit miner, who has a huge strike and everyone wants, but nobody can find, because he never filed on it. Ned has enough enemies to go around, some within his own camp. Very entertaining adventure!
July 8, 2022
Another Good Read
Another well told tale from Mr. Martin, with the same irritating mistakes. His beta readers should read more slowly. It would be five, otherwise.
Mojave Showdown shows what can happen when men with different mores clash. It shows what happened at the Tower of Babel. When you can't understand one another, even if you speak the same words, the outcomes aren't good.
Mr. Martin's tale is a perfect illustration of this.
This tale gets a strong recommend from me.
Another well told tale from Mr. Martin, with the same irritating mistakes. His beta readers should read more slowly. It would be five, otherwise.
Mojave Showdown shows what can happen when men with different mores clash. It shows what happened at the Tower of Babel. When you can't understand one another, even if you speak the same words, the outcomes aren't good.
Mr. Martin's tale is a perfect illustration of this.
This tale gets a strong recommend from me.
January 2, 2026
Well done
Very interesting story with lots of twists and turns. Well written and well edited. A pleasure to read. Look forward to more books by this author.
Rock on!
Very interesting story with lots of twists and turns. Well written and well edited. A pleasure to read. Look forward to more books by this author.
Rock on!
Did Not Finish
September 4, 2013I stopped at Chapter 7. It is just not my type of western. Far too violent for me. So I didn't feel like reading more.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews