Six Ways from Sunday

Cotton Pickens #2

by William W. Johnstone

William A. Johnstone's western hero Cotton Pickens takes a stand against a corrupt mining boss, but the odds soon begin to accumulate against him when a band of local outlaws joins the fight. As usual, Pickens finds that the shortest way out of a mess like this is a straight line, following the path of a bunch of bullets

Genres: Westerns, Fiction

316 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2009

About the author

William W. Johnstone is the #1 bestselling Western writer in America and the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of hundreds of books, with over 50 million copies sold. Born in southern Missouri, he was raised with strong moral and family values by his minister father, and tutored by his schoolteacher mother. He left school at fifteen to work in a carnival and then as a deputy sheriff before serving in the army. He went on to become known as "the Greatest Western writer of the 21st Century." Visit him online at WilliamJohnstone.net.

Reviews

[Mike H · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointed after reading book 1, which I thought was excellent. Hopefully the series improves with book 3.

[Jean Salvas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sadly it was a horrible follow up from the first of the Cotton Pickens series. I believe this is the lowest rating I have given a WWJ western to date.

[Jeff J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

#2 in the Cotton Pickens western series.

[Kurt Weber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really not excellent

[Dan Panke · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an odd followup to the first of the series. At closing of book #1 Cotton Pickens was going to marry Penny. What happened?

[Derrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

The more of these i listen to, the more I enjoy his character. He's goofy for sure and it's not like normal westerns as the humor is stupid. This one fit right along with his other in the series. Eventually i'll listen to all these. Thanks GA!

[Rob Smith, Jr. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an odd book coming from the Johnstone Clan camp. The hero, is hardly that. He's a bumbling ne'er-do-well that has little success in anything he does. This book is almost more of the main character as an observer of all that occurs. He sure doesn't solve much of anything. Making this book one hard to grab a reader.

The story is OK with a better than average explanation as to the mechanics of how an area can be taken over. So happens the efforts described here happen even today. But as a typical western, this one has little gun play and, though lots happens, there is a meandering feel to the tale in that it's rather clear the main character isn't up to fixing the problem.

All of the other Johnstone Clan adventures the reader roots for the hero. With no hero and a cast of characters that is hard to like, this book misses the engaging storytelling that makes Johnstone Clan stories so compelling.

The setting is also not as well depicted. Never could get a handle of the town and it's layout.

Bottom line: I don't recommend this book: 4 out of 10 points.

[Randy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An odd western. Told in the first person, Cotton Pickens(he's not wild about it either) is a cowboy down on his luck. He takes a job with Carter Scruples(such names) ferreting out miners from mines no longer owned by them. He learns things are not as they seem and ends up siding with the agrieved miners against Scruples and his band of murderers.

[Ropajo · Rating 3 out of 5]

First book about Cotton Pickens. Little bit dumb and jumpy.

[Arlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

People at work sometimes leave books around to share - so I needed something to read and I picked this one up. It is a classic "B" Western - a morality play taking place in a mining town.

[gerry kuipers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just soso

you get what you pay for.


a mediocre western. I guess you get what you pay for. price is right.

[Susan Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anything written by William J. Johnstone will usually get 5 stars from me. If I give it 4 stars, it is only because the story ended too soon!