Review of The Unlikely Cowboy
Posted: 15 Jun 2025, 22:23
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Unlikely Cowboy" by James E. Doucette.]
The Unlikely Cowboy: A Flat Top Mountain Adventure by James Doucette takes you on an adventure with Joseph D’Angelo after he retires from his job at the NYPD. Joe leaves behind the only life he has known, as well as many memories of his deceased wife and son, and decides to move to Canyon, Texas.
Joe opens his own gunsmith shop in Texas, and his business is doing well—but with a new business come new problems, especially when a Mexican drug cartel tries to gain a foothold in Joe’s small town. Luckily, Joe knows how to handle the cartel, but when the new cartel boss targets Joe’s life, things become a little sticky.
This book is about learning how to step away from everything you have known and create a new life with new friends—and sometimes even new love. Joe does this all after retirement, showing readers that life can go on at any age.
I did enjoy the premise of this book; however, it seemed that the author was rushing the story. Instead of spending time on details, the author added a lot of dialogue but didn’t add much depth to the conversations.
At the beginning of the book, Joe makes a quick decision to move after only a few days with his friend Willy and some issues with his NYPD career. Then, once at his new home, he quickly jumps into learning to be a cowboy, building a business, and meeting a daily coffee crew.
Life moves quickly for Joe, including the introduction of Megan—a woman Joe quickly takes an interest in and begins to spend a lot of time with. As Joe’s relationship with Megan deepens, the book does not do a great job of using actions to show this. Other than them spending more time together, the relationship itself feels a little flat.
While Joe mentions a few memories of his wife and son, there is not much for the reader to go off when Joe becomes emotional about moving on. The book lacks backstory that would help readers connect to Joe’s life before his move.
This issue persists for many of the characters. Something may be brought up that they do not wish to remember or speak about, yet it is never discussed again. It begins to feel like filler, or as though the author forgot to tie up loose ends.
I really enjoy when an author takes the time to describe everything completely—however, this book falls flat. While the scenery receives some description, and maybe we learn a bit about the characters through others’ memories, I don’t feel as if I truly connected with any of the characters in the book, including Joe.
This book is very clean and suitable for all readers. Anything sexual is only referenced as possibly having happened, but nothing lewd is described at any point.
I would give this book 3 out of 5 stars. The book itself was entertaining, if a bit slow in the middle. The jumping back and forth between different characters was confusing at the beginning, and the failure to fully develop many of the characters left me uninterested in the storyline. The author could have started the book a little earlier—before Joe lost his family—or gone into more detail about his loss, perhaps adding more memories. This would have helped readers connect with Joe. The author could have also developed each of the main characters more, either by having them speak with one another or by incorporating their thoughts and memories throughout the book.
******
The Unlikely Cowboy
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
The Unlikely Cowboy: A Flat Top Mountain Adventure by James Doucette takes you on an adventure with Joseph D’Angelo after he retires from his job at the NYPD. Joe leaves behind the only life he has known, as well as many memories of his deceased wife and son, and decides to move to Canyon, Texas.
Joe opens his own gunsmith shop in Texas, and his business is doing well—but with a new business come new problems, especially when a Mexican drug cartel tries to gain a foothold in Joe’s small town. Luckily, Joe knows how to handle the cartel, but when the new cartel boss targets Joe’s life, things become a little sticky.
This book is about learning how to step away from everything you have known and create a new life with new friends—and sometimes even new love. Joe does this all after retirement, showing readers that life can go on at any age.
I did enjoy the premise of this book; however, it seemed that the author was rushing the story. Instead of spending time on details, the author added a lot of dialogue but didn’t add much depth to the conversations.
At the beginning of the book, Joe makes a quick decision to move after only a few days with his friend Willy and some issues with his NYPD career. Then, once at his new home, he quickly jumps into learning to be a cowboy, building a business, and meeting a daily coffee crew.
Life moves quickly for Joe, including the introduction of Megan—a woman Joe quickly takes an interest in and begins to spend a lot of time with. As Joe’s relationship with Megan deepens, the book does not do a great job of using actions to show this. Other than them spending more time together, the relationship itself feels a little flat.
While Joe mentions a few memories of his wife and son, there is not much for the reader to go off when Joe becomes emotional about moving on. The book lacks backstory that would help readers connect to Joe’s life before his move.
This issue persists for many of the characters. Something may be brought up that they do not wish to remember or speak about, yet it is never discussed again. It begins to feel like filler, or as though the author forgot to tie up loose ends.
I really enjoy when an author takes the time to describe everything completely—however, this book falls flat. While the scenery receives some description, and maybe we learn a bit about the characters through others’ memories, I don’t feel as if I truly connected with any of the characters in the book, including Joe.
This book is very clean and suitable for all readers. Anything sexual is only referenced as possibly having happened, but nothing lewd is described at any point.
I would give this book 3 out of 5 stars. The book itself was entertaining, if a bit slow in the middle. The jumping back and forth between different characters was confusing at the beginning, and the failure to fully develop many of the characters left me uninterested in the storyline. The author could have started the book a little earlier—before Joe lost his family—or gone into more detail about his loss, perhaps adding more memories. This would have helped readers connect with Joe. The author could have also developed each of the main characters more, either by having them speak with one another or by incorporating their thoughts and memories throughout the book.
******
The Unlikely Cowboy
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon