The Hardest Ride

Having loved Gordon Rottman’s nonfiction books, I figured I’d give his fiction novels a try, starting with The Hardest Ride. Even though westerns aren’t really my genre, I felt “why not? I know this guy can write.” So I opened this story of a cowboy and a mute Mexican woman.

It’s written in first person, which is a little awkward, and is full of “darn tootin” slang, which is even more awkward. Yes, you can make a realism argument for it, but it’s like phonetically spelling out every character with a non-English accent. The whole thing just makes it less readable more than it makes it more immersive. The first half of the book is a mere slog as the characters stumble around from town to town.

Thankfully, the pace picks up after said mute woman is kidnapped and the remaining half is devoted to her rescue. It’s well written but falls into the small pit of “too realistic for its own good” (where the author knows firsthand human limitations but still wants to have the main character accomplish something spectacular). Still, at least it’s a plot, and it’s not poorly written.

This is an iffy book, but it’s a good kind of iffy and I’m looking forward to see if Rottman can improve in later installments.