Ashley Tucker is a cowgirl having a bad day. Without placing in any of the events she entered in the rodeo, she is out of pocket and facing a long drive back home over several tedious days. But when she pulls up to s store in a quiet town, she enters to find it both empty and with a pair of boots she desperately needs. With only a few minutes to closing time she decides to steal the shoes and send some money later. But as she heads for the door, the shop assistants appear and Ashley finds herself taken into the back room to and finds herself facing Andrea, the daughter of the store owners. Andrea is twice Ashley’s size and takes an immediate dislike to her over the attempted theft and starts to assault her. This continues on through the evening, with the beatings getting more and more brutal. With the assault continuing, Ashley finds out that Andrea had killed her parents and that Ashley is going to be her next victim. The only advantage Ashley has is the hidden knife she has in her jeans and that she will not quit.

Cowboy Down is an interesting western which is more about the attitude of the characters in the story than the setting, although they certainly fit neatly into the genre. The plot meanders a little to begin with as it takes a little while setting up the scene and to get to the store. However, once the initial tension is broken, the capture and subsequent beatings and calm moments pull you from page to page as the tension yo-yos as the situation becomes more volatile. This is not a story of a hero winning an easy fight, but someone showing grit and determination to pull through. All the main characters are female, but it made surprisingly little difference to the story being told. If any of them had been men, it could easily have become more cliched, but it more than holds it’s own and by the end what matters is how Ashley survives. The story is helped by the writing that doesn’t glamourise any of the violence and keeps it as brutal as it should be. The characters come across clearly as their actions speak for themselves and the viewpoint through the story is as clear as it should be.

Looking at the book, there are a few editing issues with the layout up front. There also no chapters marked out which could have helped to split the story up, instead it feels as though you have to read it one go. I didn’t notice any spelling or grammar errors and at the back of the book there is a note on the author and a mention of other books in this series.

Overall, aside from a slow start, this story pulls no punches from start to finish. I certainly enjoyed reading it through in a single sitting and while it may not be my cup of tea, if you enjoy a story of female determination in a western setting, this would be for you.