Misery Express

by Ralph Cotton

Book Overview

When a fellow lawman falls ill, Sam Burrack-better known as the Ranger-agrees to take the reins of the territory's infamous jail wagon. Driving straight across the territory, the Ranger must keep tabs... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451199995
• ISBN13: 9780451199997
• Release Date: April 2000
• Publisher: Signet Book
• Length: 310 Pages
• Weight: 0.38 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 4.3" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Misery Express

It's hard to imagine Ralph's stories getting better, but he's done it again with this one! The story definitely keeps you turning the pages. Ralph's brought back some characters from previous stories and it feels like seeing old friends again although, some aren't so nice. The story is very well told and has the many twists and turns that Ralph throws in. You wonder how so many seemingly unrelated incidents and characters can all come together, but they do, and they do it nicely. I'd recommend this book to anyone who wants to sit back, forget about work and the everyday stress of life, and just ride the dust covered range for a few hours. Keep 'em coming, Ralph!

Outrageous Western Classic !

As a writer myself, I bought Misery Express after seeing that Shadow of A Noose is a New York Best Seller, the first western best seller I have seen for quite a while. Reading Misery Express, I will not be surprised to see Cotton writing MANY! MANY! more best sellers. This book has too much going on to try and explain. Suffice it to say, if you do not ordinarily read the Western genre, try this one. You will be delighted! Terrific work, Mr. Cotton. Give us more!

A sure-fire

Another action packed adventure, as The Ranger and Maria take prisoners on a joy ride aboard the Misery Express. With the Spider and Plum, snaking around the badlands, heads are bound to be rolling with laughter. Dialog is second to none... Hard to guess what Cotton surprises had stashed around each corner, making it a great read with every chapter.

Cotton's best book ever.

Misery Express is a gutsy fast moving story. Like all of Ralph W. Cotton novels it rates up there with Louis Lamoor, and Zane Gray. Yet you can't compare Cotton with these writers because his work is completly his own original. Every book in the Ranger series is a piece of the old west brought to the twenty first century. I am proud to say I have read all of Cottons books and will as long as he keeps them coming. Misery Express is an old time story you like to spend time with to enjoy every word. Congratulations again Ralph.

A "Must-Read" for western fans of all ages.

I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Cotton when his first book came out in Alabama. Since then I have read each of his books as they become published. His writing still amazes me, and none of his books more so than Misery Express. Cotton has taken the most simple story line in the world, Ranger Sam Burrack and his partner Maria transporting three penny-ante crooks across the desert in a jail wagon, and has turned it into a novel so unique and original there is simply no western novel I can think of to compare it to. Into his mix of convicts, incuding a con-artist, a barroom brawler and an old Indian named Grand Dad Snake who's crime is that he ate the circuit Judge's pet dog, Cotton introduces a gang of cowardly outlaws led by JC McLawry whom we first met in Badlands, another wild & wooly Cotton original. McLawry is out to set his brother free after his brother tries to kill the ranger but kills a young lady instead. JC runs into a gunman "Fast Larry Shaw" who has lost his mind and is wandering around in the desert seeing the faces of men he has killed, until JC and his gang take him in. JC sees Fast Larry as the solution to his Ranger Problem, and that is as far as I can go without giving away a wonderful story. Like all of Cotton's stories, everything works out as it should in the end, with a certain amount of justice, irony and some strange twists of fate that can only be appreciated by reading. Overall, Cotton shows us that anyone can get thrown on lifes Misery Express. It's how we get off of it that counts. I brought the book home and sat down and read it cover to cover. Now I am reading it again and getting even more out of it. Cotton is a circus performer when it comes to juggling subplots and stories within stories. He does it effortlessly and makes it sound so real, we find ourselves caught up in the story as if it's happening to people we know. Mr. Cotton, please keep these books coming. Nobody but "The Duke" himself could play the role of Sam Burrack and do it justice. The Ranger is fast becoming a legend.