Sarah Todd

Sara Todd #1

by Chloe Garner

Back when the trains ran regular, Lawrence was a bustling little town. Back then, the Lawson brothers ran things. Now there’s just Sarah Todd, and she’s up to her armpits in bandits. There aren’t many folk left in Lawrence. There are holdouts growing what little the land will grow, there are prospectors who just won’t say die, and there are bandits who want anything they can get their grubby hands on. When someone makes a huge find, what was a controlled chaos is about to go toes-up.

406 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 26, 2017

Reviews

[Brad · Rating 5 out of 5]

A new genre for me... a sci-fi western!

Sarah Todd is the law of the town of Lawrence. You do something bad, and she’ll horse whip you on the Main Street. She also chases off the bandits and keeps the town running.
When one of the old abandoned mines strikes pay dirt and the gold rush begins, who is going to keep order in the town?
A fantastic ‘western’ set in the future on an planet far away. 5 star read!!

[Mender · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars, rounded up. In a mining town, when the mines run dry, the town dies.

Sarah Todd's hometown is in its death throes, and she is the one keeping it together. Their little town has its homesteaders, who are in it for life. But their herds of cattle make tempting targets for the men who missed the last train out of town and turned to banditry instead.

Trying to protect them is a more than full-time job. Sarah Todd doesn't have time for any more chaos in her life. But some is about to be coming her way whether she wants it or not.

I liked this book. The main character is unique and memorable, a hard woman with no time for anyone's crap. The worldbuilding is great too, set on a future planet with some fascinating weather conditions, living in a desert means coping with both sandstorms and floods.

I didn't really get why the Lawson's house was empty when they'd left for 8 years and had no plans of coming back. If wood is at such a premium, and people's houses and buildings get washed away each year, someone would have taken their chances and moved in.

The numbers on the bandits existing and being killed don't add up for me. Like, those are some pretty huge numbers of people being shot, and it doesn't seem like the desert could sustain them. Also are they rustling cattle to re-sell them? Eat them? If they weren't raiding the houses to take money and supplies from them, but just taking cattle, you'd think they'd go steal the ones like Sarah's that are grazing up in the high country instead.

Also while I really appreciated how unique both of the main characters are, they're both pretty toxic, and I'm not sure they're better together or apart.

Anyway, it's an interesting book, and I'll be looking at more from the author.

[LooseBoots · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well worth a read.
Wasn't sure I was going to like this as it's a totally different genre to what I have been reading.
The story is about a mining town that was struggling to survive as the stock of ore had long, supposedly, run out .
Only one person was holding if all together, Sarah Todd. Meting out justice but with a fair hand. Then a friend had discovered a fresh source of minerals to be mined.
This brought the founding family back and the story that ensues is full of true grit, passion in true classic western style as the town tries to cope with regeneration.
Have to say I absolutely loved it, hence my 5 stars.
Can't wait for a sequel.

[Tracey Pedersen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is outside of my normal genre, and I'm so HAPPY I chose to try it. Sarah Todd is so many things. Tough. Fair. Funny (those sayings!) I started to panic as I got closer to the end because I didn't want the goodness to be over. Chloe Garner has created something special with this book and everyone should experience it. The scene at the dinner table had me choking back laughter, while the grittiness of life in Lawrence was so perfectly portrayed. Read this book!

[The Mysterious Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

“... what was a controlled chaos is about to go toes-up.”

A dying mining town ... soon to be recovering. Complex relationships ... and more. A classic Western feel ... but more. All revolving around one heck of an amazin’ lead character in Sarah Todd. This is one heck of a good read, and I reckon’ it’s got to be highly recommended.

[Aj · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was extremely hard to put down. An old-fashioned western done sci-fi. I totally loved it!

Sarah Todd is full of vivid extremely well-written characters and landscapes with a storyline that never snags but rolls of the storyteller's tongue like honey. Chloe Garner has created a vivid world with characters I would love to see again in another book!

Very well done again, Chloe!

[Gillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am pretty sure that this author

Loved Firefly.
Her books aren’t a knock off or even an homage to the series but there are these wonderful bit that remind me of the other. The best parts. Themes and little nods in the characters. I picked up this set after reading the Carbon books and cannot recommend both enough.