Longarm #290: Longarm and the Desert Rose

At the beginning,it seems that this is going to be a somewhat routine assignment.However;as we've come to know,nothing is ever routine when Longarm gets called in.There have been several train robberies out in Rampart Valley where rustlers have been stealing cattle from the trains.That's not enough to get the Feds involved;but when they hit the mail car and mess with the U S Mail;it becomes a whole different kettel of fish.The trains are held up near Castleton KS,which is alongside the Llano Caliente Desert ,which is 40 miles wide and without any water.Nobody has seen hide nor hair of any of the cattle;only that they seem to disappear into the desert. So Longarm goes on the hunt. His search ends up being one of the worst in his long career and seens to keep going from bad to worse and seems that there is no way out of the dilemma;other than his complete demise. The only question ,that keeps changing ,is how ,not if, he is going to die. It is a well constructed story that keeps the reader's interest from beginning to end.This assignment strains Longarm,not onlt to the limit ,both physically and mentally. Too bad the artwork on the cover is not in keeping with the saga as there is plenty of opportunity in the story to come up with some super artwork .Too bad the publishers don't seem to think it is worth bothering with.