Lone Star Book Blog Tour: All the Cowboys Ain’t Gone by John J. Jacobson (Review)

“The direction of the arrow cannot be changed. It may be slowed, but not changed.”

All the Cowboys Ain’t Gone by John J. Jacobson is an exuberant good time set at the tail end of the Old West era. Living in Texas during the turn of the twentieth century, young Lincoln Smith longs for those long-gone glory days of the Texas Rangers and the Old West uncluttered by oil wells and modern machinery. The spread of the railroad across the United States and other inventions are nothing but travesties and eyesores to Lincoln. Books about the Old West and the French Foreign Legion sustain him throughout his childhood, providing him with the dream of one day joining the Legion and traveling to lands left unmarred by modern ways and contraptions.

In the first six chapters, Lincoln’s life takes a dramatic turn just months before his twelfth birthday. The story jumps ahead ten years, and Lincoln reluctantly shuffles off to college, but more exciting capers are on the horizon when he finally seizes the opportunity to seek out the Legionnaires and travel to exotic destinations.

Lincoln is a completely likable main character, full of spunk and ingenuity and endowed with proper grammar (his mother is a school teacher, after all), his father’s rifle (Lincoln’s most prized possession), and an unquenchable zest for adventure. When Lincoln meets two older guys, Jake and Johnny, who are also intent on joining the Legion, the story takes a new and often hilarious turn. The goal for these two gents is to get posted in Sidi Bel Abbès in Algeria, North Africa, so they can secretly look for King Sol’s lost treasure in legendary Mur. Lincoln agrees to help them search but insists his loyalty will remain with the Legion if they join up. Once again, however, the plot twists and turns in a new direction.

Jacobson has a flair for adding a hefty dose humor into some dastardly action filled with murder, peril, and greed. This mixture works well in this story, making it fast paced and fun to read. The reader never becomes a victim of boredom with All the Cowboys Ain’t Gone because riotous and dangerous surprises await Lincoln and his friends around every corner.

Lincoln’s adventures are somewhat reminiscent of Sir H. Rider Haggard’s 1885 bestseller King Solomon’s Mines, positioning All the Cowboys Ain’t Gone at the edges of that Lost World literary subgenre of the popular Victorian adventure/romance. While Lincoln quickly adapts his rugged old-fashioned Texas ways where ever he goes, he always remains a swashbuckling adventurer and a gentleman with an unshakable code of honor.

All the Cowboys Ain’t Gone is a must read for anyone needing a break from life’s toils and tribulations and looking for a spirited romp that moves from Texas all the way to Algeria, with Lincoln Smith never failing to charm and entertain throughout each chapter.

“I’ve never been accused of being normal.”

Enter the giveaway below on or before March 19, 2021, for a chance to win a copy of All the Cowboys Ain’t Gone by John J. Jacobson.

I received a free copy of this book from Lone Star Book Blog Tours in exchange for my honest review.