
The Hardest Ride
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $19.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
James Simenc
-
By:
-
Gordon Rottman
About this listen
Chosen as a Finalist in the Western Writers of America's Spur Award.
The Texas-Mexico border, the winter of 1886-The Great Die Up. A raw rift separates Mexicans and Anglos. A loner cowpoke and a mute Mexican girl fight man and nature to reunite.
Out of work cowpoke Bud Eugen comes across Marta, a mute sixteen-year old Mexican girl whose family has been killed by Indians. Bud reluctantly takes her along, even though he's never had to accommodate another person in his simple life. He's unable to find anyone willing to take her. In spite of his prejudices, Bud grows to like the spunky girl (and her excellent cooking).
Eventually, they both find work on a border ranch. Here, the relationship between the girl and the young cowboy hesitantly grows. But banditos raid the ranch, kidnapping the rancher's daughters and Marta. Bud, with twelve other men, pursue the banditos into the most desolate reaches of Mexico. Ambushes and battles with banditos, Rurales, and traitors are constant, and the brutal weather is as much a threat as the man-made perils. Life and death choices are made at every turn as one side gains the advantage, then the other.
The rancher's daughters are rescued, and the exhausted party turns back. But Bud presses on alone, against insurmountable odds, determined to fulfill an unspoken promise to Marta.
©2013 Gordon L. Rottman (P)2014 Taliesin PublishingListeners also enjoyed...
-
Luke
- By: C.J. Petit
- Narrated by: Michael Alan White
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Luke Scott just needed to track down some rustlers.The biggest question he had as he rode form his ranch was what kind of idiot rustles cattle in Colorado in December? Three hours later, as he tried to find his way to safety in a howling blizzard, just staying alive was much more important. It was what he found when seeking emergency shelter that would alter his life forever.
-
-
Excellent
- By Merrilee Arndt on 10-10-23
By: C.J. Petit
-
Doc Holt
- By: C.J. Petit
- Narrated by: Michael Alan White
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Doc Holt listened to the boys at the other end of the bunkhouse as they joked about the night’s excitement, and he felt sick. What they were doing bothered him. Why they were doing it bothered him. But most of all, why he wasn’t doing anything to stop it bothered him.
-
-
Interesting Story
- By Signalshifter on 06-19-23
By: C.J. Petit
-
Hard Country
- A Novel
- By: Michael McGarrity
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 15 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
National best-selling author and New Mexico native Michael McGarrity takes listeners to the wild territory of the late 19th-century American Southwest for this epic tale. After the deaths of his wife and brother, John Kerney gives up his West Texas ranch and heads south in search of a new home. Soon Kerney is offered work trailing cattle to the New Mexico Territory - a job that will forever change his life.
-
-
Hard Country lives up to it's title.
- By mar on 12-14-12
-
Retribution
- By: C.J. Petit
- Narrated by: Michael Alan White
- Length: 19 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Joey couldn’t imagine a better 13th birthday. He’d been given his first pistol and now was going to join his six older brothers on tomorrow’s job. They were going to trust him with covering their escape after robbing the bank and he was determined to do it right. He was immensely proud to be a Hogan, and his tough brothers were his heroes.
-
-
Retribution
- By drg on 02-04-24
By: C.J. Petit
-
A Man Called Justice
- Silent Justice, Book 1
- By: John Deacon
- Narrated by: A.T. Chandler
- Length: 5 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Justice is a drifter with no fear and no memory, trailed by a violent past. Nora is a beautiful widow bravely raising her young son on an isolated New Mexican ranch. When a ruthless cattle baron pushes longhorns into the valley, Justice vows to protect Nora and her boy. But how can he succeed against thirty hired guns… including the four outlaws who left him for dead?
-
-
Home run!
- By Charlie on 08-30-22
By: John Deacon
-
Alex Paine
- By: C.J. Petit
- Narrated by: Michael Alan White
- Length: 14 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sixteen-year-old Henry was ejected from the enormous St. Martin ranch and told never to return, or he would be shot on sight. He vowed to return and seek revenge against the entire family. When he finally returned, it wouldn’t be as Henry St. Martin, it would not be as a 16-year-old boy seeking justice for his mother, but as a hardened lawman with the name of Alex Paine.
-
-
An epic story spanning over a half century of enduring love, bravery and perseverance.
- By gregory ewertz on 03-21-24
By: C.J. Petit
-
Luke
- By: C.J. Petit
- Narrated by: Michael Alan White
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Luke Scott just needed to track down some rustlers.The biggest question he had as he rode form his ranch was what kind of idiot rustles cattle in Colorado in December? Three hours later, as he tried to find his way to safety in a howling blizzard, just staying alive was much more important. It was what he found when seeking emergency shelter that would alter his life forever.
-
-
Excellent
- By Merrilee Arndt on 10-10-23
By: C.J. Petit
-
Doc Holt
- By: C.J. Petit
- Narrated by: Michael Alan White
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Doc Holt listened to the boys at the other end of the bunkhouse as they joked about the night’s excitement, and he felt sick. What they were doing bothered him. Why they were doing it bothered him. But most of all, why he wasn’t doing anything to stop it bothered him.
-
-
Interesting Story
- By Signalshifter on 06-19-23
By: C.J. Petit
-
Hard Country
- A Novel
- By: Michael McGarrity
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 15 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
National best-selling author and New Mexico native Michael McGarrity takes listeners to the wild territory of the late 19th-century American Southwest for this epic tale. After the deaths of his wife and brother, John Kerney gives up his West Texas ranch and heads south in search of a new home. Soon Kerney is offered work trailing cattle to the New Mexico Territory - a job that will forever change his life.
-
-
Hard Country lives up to it's title.
- By mar on 12-14-12
-
Retribution
- By: C.J. Petit
- Narrated by: Michael Alan White
- Length: 19 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Joey couldn’t imagine a better 13th birthday. He’d been given his first pistol and now was going to join his six older brothers on tomorrow’s job. They were going to trust him with covering their escape after robbing the bank and he was determined to do it right. He was immensely proud to be a Hogan, and his tough brothers were his heroes.
-
-
Retribution
- By drg on 02-04-24
By: C.J. Petit
-
A Man Called Justice
- Silent Justice, Book 1
- By: John Deacon
- Narrated by: A.T. Chandler
- Length: 5 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Justice is a drifter with no fear and no memory, trailed by a violent past. Nora is a beautiful widow bravely raising her young son on an isolated New Mexican ranch. When a ruthless cattle baron pushes longhorns into the valley, Justice vows to protect Nora and her boy. But how can he succeed against thirty hired guns… including the four outlaws who left him for dead?
-
-
Home run!
- By Charlie on 08-30-22
By: John Deacon
-
Alex Paine
- By: C.J. Petit
- Narrated by: Michael Alan White
- Length: 14 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sixteen-year-old Henry was ejected from the enormous St. Martin ranch and told never to return, or he would be shot on sight. He vowed to return and seek revenge against the entire family. When he finally returned, it wouldn’t be as Henry St. Martin, it would not be as a 16-year-old boy seeking justice for his mother, but as a hardened lawman with the name of Alex Paine.
-
-
An epic story spanning over a half century of enduring love, bravery and perseverance.
- By gregory ewertz on 03-21-24
By: C.J. Petit
-
Brannigan's Land
- By: J. A. Johnstone, William W. Johnstone
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Once a respected lawman in Kansas and Oklahoma, Ty Brannigan ended his career as town marshal of Warknife while he was still young enough to marry, start a family, and raise cattle. Now nearly sixty, he’s a proud husband, father of four, and proprietor of the Powderhorn Ranch. He’s more content wrangling cows than criminals. But for every outlaw Brannigan put in jail, noosed, or left to the vultures, he made even more enemies. They’ve made the mistake of targeting his wife and children—only to discover that Ty Brannigan enforces his own law with a lightning-fast draw.
-
-
Narrator
- By bjstirland on 09-13-22
By: J. A. Johnstone, and others
-
Riding Shotgun
- Red Ryan Series, Book 1
- By: William W. Johnstone, J. A. Johnstone
- Narrated by: J. Rodney Turner
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If anyone knows the road to purgatory, it's Red Ryan. As a stagecoach guard, he's faced holdups, ambushes, and all-out attacks from every kill-crazy outlaw, Indian, and prairie rat. But even he's a bit reluctant to take on his next job: riding shotgun with his driver Buttons Muldoon on a stage bound from Fort Concho, Texas, to Fort Bliss.
-
-
Needs different narrator
- By roaddog on 06-03-19
By: William W. Johnstone, and others
-
Death and Texas
- By: J.A. Johnstone, William W. Johnstone
- Narrated by: John Little
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The great state of Texas is a land of opportunity. For outlaws. And horse thieves. And cattle rustlers. Not to mention bank robbers, train robbers, and anything-that-ain’t-nailed-down robbers. The state’s governor, Richard B. Hubbard, is at the end of his rope. He wants to clean up Texas once and for all—and he’s desperate enough to try something crazy: hire a man who can do what the Texas Rangers can’t. A man not tied down by a wife or children. Or rules. Who’s not afraid to go outside the law.
-
-
Death and Texas
- By Danny Harr on 07-27-22
By: J.A. Johnstone, and others
-
Blood on the Trail
- A Jeremiah Halstead Western, Book 1
- By: Terrence McCauley
- Narrated by: J. Rodney Turner
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Deputy US Marshal Jeremiah Halstead is escorting notorious outlaw John Hudson across the territory for trial when he's ambushed by a pack of Hudson's men anxious to rescue their partner from his custody. Halstead puts the blast on them, but outnumbered and outgunned, he has little choice but to hole up in an old mining town known as Silver Cloud, Montana. It's a place where he can keep a lock on his prisoner while figuring out how to get past Hudson's gang alive. But the folks in Silver Cloud are none too happy playing host to the lawman or his kill-crazy prisoner.
-
-
Great book y’all
- By jetson s taylor on 04-30-22
-
The Black Hills Blood Hunt
- Buchanon-Morgan, Book 1
- By: William W. Johnstone, J. A. Johnstone
- Narrated by: Al Kessel
- Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Deadwood, South Dakota. Miners flock there seeking fortunes, while cardsharps, bandits, and businessmen seek to deprive those who strike gold by means fair and foul. Legendary former lawman Seth Bullock plans to keep the peace by any means necessary—especially when his good friend, President Theodore Roosevelt, is expected in town to celebrate the anniversary of Deadwood's founding.
-
-
The Black Hills blood Hunt
- By Danny Harr on 10-26-22
By: William W. Johnstone, and others
-
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
- A Lisbeth Salander Novel
- By: Stieg Larsson, Reg Keeland - translator
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 16 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Harriet Vanger, a scion of one of Sweden's wealthiest families disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pierced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption.
-
-
A Classic Mystery with Wonderful Characters
- By Robert on 12-22-08
By: Stieg Larsson, and others
-
I Found You
- A Novel
- By: Lisa Jewell
- Narrated by: Helen Duff
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a windswept British seaside town, single mum Alice Lake finds a man sitting on the beach outside her house. He has no name and no idea how he got there. Against her better judgment, she invites him inside. Meanwhile, in a suburb of London, 21-year-old Lily Monrose has been married for only three weeks. When her husband fails to come home from work one night, she is left alone in a place where she knows no one and with the police telling her that her husband never existed.
-
-
Foul language
- By Carolyn D Mitchell on 03-04-20
By: Lisa Jewell
-
The Deep, Deep Snow
- By: Brian Freeman
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Deputy Shelby Lake was abandoned as a baby, saved by a stranger who found her in the freezing cold. Now, years later, a young boy is missing - and Shelby is the one who must rescue a child. The only evidence of what happened to 10-year-old Jeremiah Sloan is a bicycle left behind on a lonely road. After a desperate search fails to locate him, the close bonds of Shelby’s hometown begin to fray under the weight of accusations and suspicion. Everyone around her is keeping secrets.
-
-
Get this while it's the daily deal!!!!
- By shelley on 06-20-19
By: Brian Freeman
-
Forever Texas
- Forever Texas, Book 1
- By: J.A. Johnstone, William W. Johnstone
- Narrated by: John Little
- Length: 12 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s 1852. The wounds of the Mexican War are healing. Regis Royle, co-owner of a steamship fleet, has made it out alive, relatively unscarred and with enough profit and foolhardy ambition to envision a new life in south Texas. With the help of his crack-shot kid brother Shepley, his glad-handing riverboat partner Cormac Delany, and his old friend, raw-edged former Texas Ranger Jarvis “Bone” McGraw, Regis is laying claim to the prime jewel in a magnificent rolling prairie: the Santa Calina range teeming with wild mustangs, cattle, and eighteen-thousand acres of lush promise.
-
-
one of the best
- By Veronica on 05-24-22
By: J.A. Johnstone, and others
-
The Long Trail
- McCabes Series, Book 1
- By: Brad Dennison
- Narrated by: J. Rodney Turner
- Length: 14 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Long Trail is the first book in the best-selling series about the McCabes, a family building a ranch in the rugged wilderness of post-Civil War Montana, and of a young man seeking his family and his destiny.
-
-
Enjoyable but huge errors in narration
- By JG on 08-27-21
By: Brad Dennison
-
Sam's County
- By: C.J. Petit
- Narrated by: Michael Alan White
- Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Yavapai County in Arizona Territory was bigger than Pennsylvania, and Sheriff Sam Hicks and his three deputies were the only law that most of its residents knew. When China Joe’s gang knocked off the huge cash shipment heading for Prescott, Sheriff Hicks left his office unsure if this would be his last job one way or the other. He knew he had to retire soon, he didn’t expect to be alive in six months, whether it was from a .44 or his failing heart.
-
-
Sam's Country club
- By Danny Harr on 02-04-24
By: C.J. Petit
-
Destitution
- By: John Deacon
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 4 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Elijah Rable rides into Destitution looking for some fun but ends up with a badge on his chest, a price on his head, and two women vying for his heart. Destitution is just a miserable little frontier town in the middle of nowhere. So why is the air thick with fear and greed? And why are its most powerful citizens hiring gunslingers? Joined by a female sharpshooter with more grit than a sandstorm, Rable gets busy trying to solve the mystery. But he’d better be quick if he wants to stop the war, save the folks counting on him, and get out of Destitution alive.
-
-
A winner
- By CindySK on 01-20-23
By: John Deacon
What listeners say about The Hardest Ride
Highly rated for:
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Moondust
- 01-05-18
couldn't give 5 stars
story good, narrative just horrible. could have been more exciting if the story had been told without that terribly e
irritating narratitor he sounded so horrible. Would have loved to hear Marta's side of the story she was such an important part of the story.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Joseph
- 04-22-15
Great' I Would recommend it everyone!
Loved it! This is a great written love story with a strong western background! It was well worth the time.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jtesch
- 12-01-14
Great story with great action.
Where does The Hardest Ride rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
I listen to many books on tape and this one was truly great.
What did you like best about this story?
I could not stop the tape when I got home or at work. I wanted to hear more and more.
Which character – as performed by James Simenc – was your favorite?
Both main characters were well described and quite unique.
Any additional comments?
Well worth the time if you like western stories.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Kindle Customer
- 10-10-17
Worth listening to, very entertaining
The story line has a good western feel. Keeps you engaged from the beginning to the end.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Kindle Customer
- 12-11-17
The Hardest Ride by Gordon L. Rottman
Great book. Mr Rottman describes the land, the storms, the guns in detail. You feel like you are in the rain and brush with them. Loved it. Just starting Ride Harder and like it very much.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Herb
- 04-07-15
Enjoyable read
I'm basically a mystery and thriller reader with a few science fiction novels thrown in. This book sounded like a good read and I wasn't disappointed. The story line had me hooked from the first chapter. I usually listen to audio books when I drive or when I work around the house. Bottom line, my wife got more work out of me the last few days than she has for a month. I'll be waiting for Mr. Rottman's next book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Rick Johnson
- 03-14-18
Great story
This is the first book I listened to by this author and narrator. Very glad I did story was great and never a dull moment. Narrator did a great job of getting the right fell for the time and place of the story. I will listen to more stories by these two.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- greg littrell
- 03-08-17
The Hardest Review
It was a good story. The voice started off a little flat to me but it kind of became thiis character. It was good, I enjoyed it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Kindle Customer
- 11-24-16
this book is a great read and or listen
this is the Best Western I have read since Lonesome Dove the characters are well-developed the language is authentic you feel as though you are in the Old West a book both brutal and tender at the same time
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- KathyW
- 04-07-17
Excellent all round
This author and reader make an amazing duo. I wish there were other books available.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!