Ride the Jawbone by Jim Moore
1902 in central Montana, the Jawbone Railroad served the ranch country in the Mussellshell River Valley as well as the gold fields in the Castle Mountains. The son of a local rancher, T. C. Bruce, just out of law school, is talked into defending a man commonly called Loco, charged with murdering a young woman and throwing her body from the train. The task was formidable for the young attorney, because old loco was already considered guilty in the minds of everyone in the jury pool. To make matters worse, Loco refuses to cooperate with T. C. in any way. Will he win his first case? Now in its sixth printing!
$14.00
When you read Jim Moore's Ride the Jawbone, you have to constantly remind yourself that it's fiction and you haven't slipped into Montana in 1902 One heck of a read.
A woman's murder in turn-of-the-century rural Montana; a crazy suspect; a newly-minted lawyer's first case. These are the elements of a drama remarkable for its authenticity. Mr. Moore's attention to telling detail and historical accuracy effortlessly carry the reader into that long-gone world. A page-turner.
Jim Moore has brought us a vivid and historical story with Ride the Jawbone. His accurate portrayal of the people and the country bring back to life those interesting people and places along the Jawbone Railroad and the Upper Musselshell Valley in the early days of the last century. It is truly a contribution to the historic literature of the state. Well done!
The Jawbone railroad binds a community of small towns and ranches populated by quirky people, while a young man is torn between following his father’s footsteps into ranching and starting his law practice, his mother’s dream. A novel of memorable characters, among them the Jawbone railroad, in an odd corner of Montana history.
Brilliantly using his vast knowledge of law and Montana history, master storyteller Jim Moore plunges the reader into a world of mystery and moral dilemma. Realistic, intriguing, captivating.
Rich in detail, Jim Moore’s novel enlightens readers about the day-to-day labors, cowhands, horses and equipment involved in ranching in 1902 and the habits and mores of people struggling to exist in the small towns strewn along the rails of the Jawbone. Interspersed in this history are a fascinating murder trial and the young untried attorney who defends a seemingly indefensible accused. We root for this young protagonist and smile a little at how easily he is distracted by attractive young ladies
A vicious murder. A reprehensible vagrant accused of the crime. A town ready to lynch. A new, untested lawyer trying to save the defendant. A sagacious country judge presiding at an extraordinary trial. Will the jury acquit? The depiction by Jim Moore of action in a one-hundred-year-ago courtroom grabs the reader and won’t let go.
Jim does a very good job of sticking to the details of the time, right down to the style of writing. A young lawyer is torn between making a career as a lawyer or going back to his roots of ranching. A very unusual and fascinating murder case seems to be the deciding factor. If you are accustomed to predicting the ending of a story, forget it! You won't know how this one ends until the very last pages.
This review is from: Ride the Jawbone (Perfect Paperback)
Ride the Jawbone had me intrigued from the first page. An easy book to read and kept you wanting to read to find out what was going to happen next! The characters were very realistic and is a reminder of the hard life and struggles people had moving west. Looking forward to the follow-up book with some of the main characters as I want to read more about their journey! i.e. - Sarah!
Ride the Jawbone had me intrigued from the first page. An easy book to read and kept you wanting to read to find out what was going to happen next! The characters were very realistic and is a reminder of the hard life and struggles people had moving west. Looking forward to the follow-up book with some of the main characters as I want to read more about their journey! i.e. - Sarah!
Editions:
2011 Paperback 228 pages ISBN: 978-0-9827377-3-6
$14.00