The Cowboy Rides Away [Hardcover]

Betsy Thornton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1996

Former political activist Chloe Newcomb believes that she had left her past life behind her when she leaves New York for the Arizona desert, but the murder of a former lover brings the past into the present.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Chloe Newcomb is a Victim Witness, a volunteer social worker in an Arizona desert town who helps soften the bad news after an accident or crime. Called to a suicide scene, she recognizes the dead man as a figure from her East Coast activist past, a former lover she hasn't heard from in 20 years. In her first novel, Thornton manages to make Chloe both original and recognizable, the kind of person you'd expect to find liking country music (her title comes from a George Strait song), enjoying diner food and flirting with good-looking cowboys. And her descriptions of the desert under various conditions of time and weather make you understand why people choose to live there.

From Publishers Weekly

For Chloe Newcomb, introduced in this first novel, coming of age and middle age seem to be hitting at about the same time. A former member of the 1960s counterculture, Chloe has just quit her job as a financial investigator in New York City for an unlikely third life in scruffy, no-nonsense, serenely beautiful Bisbee, Ariz. Putting a short-lived marriage firmly behind her and mourning for her brother, who died of AIDS, Chloe is doing her best to look ahead, but her earlier lives keep intruding. As a Victim Witness?an advocate for crime survivors?she has just seen the dead body of an old lover from her college days. Even 20 years later, the face is the same, but the name is different. While the police are ready to label Leroy Harris a suicide, Chloe knows better?her impassioned friend, Randall Hartman, would never take his own life. Becoming obsessed with his death and with finding his killer, she retraces his steps and, in the process, comes to terms with some of the twists and missteps along her own path. This debut is packed with a strong sense of atmosphere. Thornton vividly depicts the Bisbee terrain and has a real feeling for those whose nerves have been rubbed raw by life. But as easy as it is to identify with Chloe, she's a hard woman to spend time with?nothing seems to fall her way.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 231 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 1st edition (July 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031214301X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312143015
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,293,216 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A well written mystery with vivid characters., May 2, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Cowboy Rides Away (Paperback)

The Cowboy Rides Away is a very well written mystery, particularly for a first novel. The characters, even the minor ones, are so vivid they stay in your mind like the country song lyric from the title. The sense of place is also strong. Chloe Newcomb sees the Arizona desert as an outsider, which gives her description of it added sharpness. The mystery was fascinating and not created from a formula. I'll be looking for this author's future work.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Realistic setting, authentic participants, you'll want more!, May 14, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Cowboy Rides Away (Hardcover)

Such fun, interest, reality and adventure for a first novel! The Cowboy Rides Away, by Betsy Thornton, a must for mystery lovers and an extreme must for us mystery lovers in Arizona. Reviews usually refer to the author as Mr. or Ms., however, after reading this novel, you too, will simply refer to the author as Betsy. Her talent allows you to become involved, place yourself within the dusty setting, next to the characters, so that you also feel you know her well. A "quick read" in the sense nothing gets done until you close the back cover. The rating of 9? Only because I wanted the story to go on...

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Love It!, September 21, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Granbury, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Cowboy Rides Away (Paperback)

This book was a quick read with a plot that holds you and references to the '60's that I truely identified with. I hope Ms. Thornton keeps 'em comming!!!!