Rodelo is relieved to be released from prison – and angry that he had to spend time there in the first place. Even harder for him to handle is the fact that, when he was first accused of the crime, none of his so-called friends had stood for his character. They’d all faded away – deserted him. But he’ll show all of them. He’ll recover the gold from where that crook, Joe Harbin, hid it, and return it to his rightful owners.What Rodelo didn’t expect was for Harbin to escape from jail on the same day as his release – and head straight for the gold stash! As the two of them face-off over the gold, they both release that their game is a waiting game, a game of time. Either they will kill each other, the Indians will kill them, or they will be swallowed up in the burning desert as they journey towards a “new” life. But which will it be?Discussion.I read L’Amour in little spurts. I’ll go a few months without reading him, and then all of a sudden I’ll read three or four at once. In this bout I read To Tame a Land, Borden Chantry, and Kid Rodelo. As I read To Tame a Land I thought, “Wow, this book is better than the typical L’Amour.” Then, as I read Borden Chantry I thought, “Wow, this one is, too.” Then I had a devastating thought. What if these two books aren’t really better, and my taste in literature has just, you know, plummeted? Then I read Kid Rodelo. It relieved me. Because it is typical western through and through.That’s not to say that there weren’t a few interesting moments here and there. They just had too many words between them. Also, the lack of resolution in the end was completely disheartening. Even had I been enthralled by the story, its fuzzy ending alone would have knocked it down a notch or two. Since I wasn’t too into the story, instead of being a burning question, it’s more like an annoying itch that I wish I could shrug off or scratch out.Conclusion. Not in the least a necessary read.Visit The Blithering Bookster to read more reviews!www.blitheringbookster.com
Louis L'Amour is one of my father's favourites, and there were a lot of his novels around the house when I was growing up. I read a couple of them as a boy; they were fun but didn't make as much of an impact on me as other authors I discovered in my parents' collection: Tolkien, Asimov, Lovecraft, Wodehouse, even Agatha Christie. This year I finally got around to reading a L'Amour and it's pretty effective for what it aims at. There's no undying prose here, nor the literary apotheosis via pulp someone like Jim Thompson could have made of this basic scenario - an ill-assorted group of drifters and outlaws scurrying across an inhospitable desert to get away with ill-gotten gold. L'Amous paints his characters with broad strokes; we get the picture, and that's about it. He puts a lot more detail into describing their desert surroundings, and even if his phrasing sometimes seems cribbed straight from a geography textbook, with a sprinkling of heavy-handed pulp stylistics added, he conjures up some pretty effective images. At 150 pages, this boon never gets a chance to outstay its welcome. It won't change your life but it will do very well as something to while away a dull evening.
What do You think about Kid Rodelo: A Novel (2007)?
Some of the water in the desert theme in this 1966 western is reminiscent of the author's Last Stand at Papago Wells (1957).Western - Joe Harbin hadn't killed a man for a fortune in gold just to sit in prison and let Rodelo collect it. But when he and his men break out and head for the stash, they end up with a pair of unwelcome partners: Rodelo and a beautiful woman with a hidden past. To get fifty thousand dollars in gold across fifty miles of desert, the desperate band quickly learns how much they need each other---and how deep their greed and suspicion can run. At the end of the journey lie the waters of Baja and a new life in Mexico, but first they have to survive the savage heat, bounty-hunting Yaqui Indians, and the shifting, treacherous nature of both the desert sands and their own conflicting loyalties.
—Ed
This review is for ALL my Louis L'Amour books! (In order for me to put an actual review for each book by him, I would probably have to RE-read them all).But I CAN say this about his books: I was NEVER disappointed in ANY of his books! Each one kept 100% interested, wanting to know what was going to happen next! His description of the scenery in each setting was explicit, making me able to picture it and feel like I was actually there! As you got to know each of his characters, you could feel their sadness, happiness, anger and so on. Reading a Louis L'Amour western was like sitting back and watching a movie! (There were movies made from some of his books->The Sackets) The Sackets series was absolutely awesome, when you finished one book you couldn't wait to get your hands on the next one!! Louis L'Amour researched history and the land in order to make his characters, and the land they lived in, to be more real! I read all Louis L'Amour westerns when I was a teen and into my mid 20's, at least once, several books I read twice!! My stepmom is also an avid Louis L'Amour fan, she has EVERY Louis L'Amour book ever written. She is the one that got me hooked on reading westerns, shortly after her and my Dad got married, when I was about 15. Today I'm more of a YA paranorm reader, but STILL love throwing a Western into the mix now 'n' then! Please, give a Louis L'Amour book a try and just see if he's not the best western writer of all time!! I've read westerns from other authors, and altho they are very good, none can compare to a Louis L'Amour novel!
—Lexie
Edoardo Ballerini is a great narrator for this classic L'Amour western. He gets the voice right for the character--more likely to use his brains than his fists, soft-spoken, laconic, honorable. After he's released from jail, having served a year for a crime he didn't commit, he picks up the gold and heads for the coast. And if he's so honorable, why did he take the stolen gold? Unfortunately, the murderer and his pals who actually stole the gold escape prison and track him down. So he's leading them and a woman with a secret past across 50 miles of desert, followed by the Indians who want the bounty on the escapees. Quintessential L'Amour western, with the landscape almost more dangerous than the outlaws and the Indians.
—Joyce
