I like reading Louis L'Amour books because you will not find a more compact, precisely-written story. No words are wasted and the story flows quickly from one chapter to the next. Yes, L'Amour was formulaic. No, there are rarely any surprises in his books. They are stories about challenges, ethics, morals and hardships faced in the southwest and west from the period of just after the Civil War until the turn of the century. But, you don't always read L'Amour for depth and thoughtfulness, you read him first to be transported to a different time that is still very real to many a reader and captures the imagination. It is only after you're done reading that you begin to parse the lessons held within the book.That said, there were points within this book that I found myself confused and having to re-read in order to determine what was being described. These parts seem to have been at either editing points (where he may have been asked to remove some material) or L'Amour was rushed in his writing. I found it to be a little jarring. It still didn't detract from it being a good yarn.And yes, I saw the TV movie. I'm a huge fan of both Tom Selleck and Sam Elliott. They did justice to this book.
i really liked this book a lot, it was a very good book, once i picked it up it was hard to put it down.this book is about two brothers who fought on opposite sides of the civil war. but rode home together, and when they get home there were going to try and build a family ranch together, after a bunch of raiders came through and destroyed and burned down the ranch that they had before. these raiders also took there sisters and wives as captives. and this book is about the bloody journey were they are going to get back there family and wont stop until the three men that took them are dead. i recommend this book to anyone who likes westerns and action.
