good western, lou bradshaw is a fine writer
350497
good western ,lou bradshaw is a fine writer, recommend all his books!
710534
Two westerns for the price of one is a hard deal to turn down. I am not an expert in the western novel genre but I enjoy a good western whether it be book or movie but frankly and sadly there are not many top-quality ones of either out there for us to enjoy (for the best western movie ever made, see "The Proposition").

The reason for a four-star rating for this offering is that the second novel in this pair does not match the quality of the first. "Gone to Texas" (later re-titled "The Outlaw Josey Wales" after Clint Eastwood's film adaptation of the book) is one of the best western novels I have read. The character of Wales is one that rises close to the level of the "Man With No Name" character Eastwood has portrayed on several occasions in film. Raw-boned and resourceful as well as fast as a rattler with his pistols, Wales rides with Blood Bill Anderson during the American Civil War and like Bloody Bill, he fights the war on his own terms. After the war ends, he continues to make his own life as the Northerners hunt him for not surrendering and not swearing an oath to re-establish his US citizenship. Along this new path he picks up more people on the way who enter his life usually by Wales saving their life. They feel a debt to Wales even though he holds no such feeling toward them. As the story continued he finds a chance to have a family again such as was stolen from him years before. I won't reveal the choice or other details since the reading is worth the wait for these answers.

The second novel, "The Vengeance Trail of Josey Wales", continues the story of Wales but it does not stand up to the first novel in the series. It is "thinner", not as in the thickness of the total pages but as in the drawing of the characters. Wales does not flesh-out much more than the first novel and the other various characters we meet are a bit too cardboard-cutout or blandly expected for my tastes. It is an okay read but after the first novel, I looked forward to more revelations concerning Wales and more insights into his character ... they are absent and so this results in dragging down the entire rating for this two-for-one offering.

These are still worth the price (especially since I bought a brand-spanking-new copy for a used book price) but you'll remember the first novel for a long, long time while shelving the second on the dusty shelves of the "just-okay" bookshelves in your memory warehouse.
3763408
This is one of the best westerns that I have ever read. The characters come alive and this author definitely is a studious expert in knowing human nature. Trey and Sarah McLean are wonderful characters, as well as all of  the others who are in this story. Elmer Kelton fleshes them all out and  there are no real minor characters. That, I believe, is where a lot of his  true talent lies.
2842512
Good, steady action. Authentic enough for the genre. This is the third I've read. I have one comment I'd like to forward to the author: forget the minority accents. He's trying for Mexican but it's coming out French. Basically these are comfortable reads with Marshal Boone Crowe doing his Wild West best. Buck Edwards shows his strengths when he integrates his knowledge of Indian beliefs and lore. He does this well in this novel. He also creates a college educated deputy who is believable. All in all who could complain? It's a Western!!!!!!

This novel shows a huge advance in the authors attention to detail and character observation. Book 5 could be one of the best. I look forward to it's arrival.
3533123
Doug  Summerfield writes a great taut story, tightly written. His story is spare. His sense of the geography of the Montana and Wyoming landscape presents the location as a character as surely as his flesh and blood characters. Ranches and ranchers,, small town folks and beautiful countryside come to life in this homage of Western life. Nice solid work.
3336926
This well written Western was a pleasure to read. Dawson with the help of Joe, takes over the management of the family ranch. Jenna Mae, Joes niece, comes to live at the ranch and does a commendable job of stirring things up. The plot is very interesting and complex enough to make this story a good page turner. As with all of this authors stories the length is appropriate and the characters very well developed. I did find some of the scenes repetitive but the book still deserves five stars. The publishers sent me this book as an ARC for an honest review.
2082781
This happens to be the first Western novel I have read that was not centered around pornographic intentions (which was a result of narrow choice and circumstance, not active pursuit).  I have long been a fan of Western movies such as Tombstone, themed video games, and have read countless historic accounts of the old west alongside viewing numerous documentaries at the subject as well.  Run on sentences aside, this novel accomplishes many things without a heavy hand or a demanding gaze needed for full enjoyment.

I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it and the author's knowledge of his animal subject matter is something I would love to see woven into the writing world far more often.
197786
Even by Louis L'Amour's high standards this a ripper of a tale from the old West.  The suspense begins on page 1 and continues virtually to the last page.  The author does not spare his hero who is twice severely wounded and especially the first time looks as if he cannot possibly win through.  There are plenty of shoot-outs and a blossoming romance that adds to the hero's danger.  If you are looking for a gripping novel to take you out of yourself and your pressured world then this rip-roaring tale is for you, the story of a lone gun-fighter who always fights for fair.
1597819
As always, L'Amour keeps your attention with his fast action western writing
4773778
4.5 Stars for this well crafted old west tale of an aging Texas gent, Captain Kidd (no relation to the pirate) who agrees for a price to transport a ten-year old girl back to her relatives after being rescued from captivity at the hands of the Kiowa tribe.  As one might expect the girl, Johanna, is quite feral after years living among the so-called "savages" and speaks little to no English.  Their perilous trek takes them from Wichita Falls, Texas to Castroville, Texas which is west of San Antonio.  The Captain makes a living by reading the "News of the World" from newspapers and telegraph stories he curates for information hungry folks in remote Texas towns charging a dime for a reading.  It's a quaint notion in this digital continuous news information age but makes for an interesting plot device.  There's a bit of action here and there but it's not going to keep you on the edge of your seat.  This novel compares to books like "True Grit" (but is a alot less gritty if you will and the Captain is no Rooster Cogburn) or "The Homesman" (nowhere near as dark and grim) in it's style.  Most of the lower rated reviews on Amazon seem to be obsessed with the oddities of punctuation and the absence of quotation marks in particular; I didn't find this to detract from my enjoyment of the story but if you're a punctuation fetishist than perhaps give it a pass.
3471878
Here's a western written by someone with knowledge of what cowboys did and how they talked i.e. Expressions they used.  The characters are well defined and interesting.  I believe what I like best about this author is his sense of humor in the situations he places his characters.
3226729
I love westerns, and this is a good western.  It is a realistic, well written story about the old west with some historical background.
1180113
This is one of the better westerns you'll find, period.  Great performances by Luke Perry as Sheriff Austin, C. Thomas Howell as the land baron possessed by greed, and Kim Coates as Tate, all around low life gunslinger and murderer (you'll recognize him from a similar role in Open Range).

The theme is a common one in the western genre told from a slightly different angle this time, Sheriff Austin (Perry) while out hunting escaped criminals, looses his wife and son, killed by those very criminals.  He quits as sheriff and goes on the hunt for revenge, accidentally killing an innocent man.  Out of remorse, he must help the family of this man defend against land hungry Lamar Horn (Howell) and his henchmen including bought and paid for town sheriff (not the same town) and including Tate (Coates), the murderer of the Austin family.

Very Good drama and action.  Well told and paced, with logical progression.  The only real complaint is one that is common to almost every film. At times, when normally people would offer a more complete explanation of pertinent things at the moment, for some reasons writers either "save" those explanations for a "later" event or exclude them all together.  But that is common in the film industry.  You will, however, enjoy this one.  You will be happy you added it to your collection.  Incidentally, this is included in a triple feature edition with 2 other good westerns starring Kevin Sorbo, Avenging Angel and Prairie Fever.  Unless you like to have the individual art work/case for each film you can pick up the triple feature at a good value.  Enjoy!
4804538
Louis L'Amour is as is well known a great writer of Westerns. This book like all his books is an excellent book. One often has to read a book to escape from the real world in which one lives and enter into another world which did exist at one time which was wild and hard and difficult but about which one can now read and live in all the events without being bothered about "this is happening now!" It is a panacea.
168827
Writer Larry McMurtry excels at creating rich, engaging characters that snug up to you like a pair of well-worn leather boots.  Gus McCrae, played by Robert Duvall, is one of the best-written roles I've ever seen on film.  Hats off to Duvall for playing the part so brilliantly.  But that's just one of many memorable characters in this western saga that skillfully weaves several storylines into an exciting adventure with a human touch.  Don't let "Made for TV" scare you from this one.  It may be a bit unfair to compare a miniseries with shorter feature films in this genre, but I'd rank this among the greatest westerns ever made.
3755986
The best Louis L'Amour novel I can ever recall reading, "Comstock Lode" puts you in the middle of the Nevada silver rush just as the American Civil War breaks out. Longer than L'Amour's usual fare, it tells an epic revenge story with just the right vigor and tone.

Val Trevallion came to the American West from Cornwall, England with his parents, who sought their fortune in a classless society. They found tragedy instead. Grown to manhood, Val arrives in Virginia City just as the mining there is beginning to strike silver, carrying with him a strong self-reliance and a desire for revenge he doesn't always understand:

"He had come to find a man...or men. He had come to kill...They were not miners, they were wolves, and they would flock to this place. And he would be waiting. The trouble was, he no longer wanted to kill."

Published in 1981, "Comstock Lode" presents L'Amour in both familiar and unusual form: familiar because it relies on a common theme of his fiction, that of a sturdy individual of high moral fiber challenged both by nature and by evil men; unusual because it is quite a bit longer than the usual L'Amour novel and develops a lot of story tangents and secondary characters.

The book does get a bit pat in places, but it's also an incredibly satisfying read. For someone who doesn't get all the fuss about the Sacketts, I was captivated by L'Amour's tangly yarn-spinning all the way through. He's usually a good story-teller, but the narrative is stronger this time out. Also, L'Amour finds ways of bringing the tangents back into the main story. He does this in other books, often to excess; here it has more of a feeling of destiny.

"Comstock Lode" also captures L'Amour waxing philosophical about the nature of man's search for fortune, both in its good and evil form. Trevellion starts the book out the only guy in Nevada not looking to get rich. But as he develops a sense of community, and makes friends, he also becomes more interested in laying down roots and staking his own claim.

On the other side of the coin, there is Hesketh, a somewhat simple man in his baseness and greed, yet with a complexity beneath that makes him interesting, even if it is that of a sociopath. Hesketh doesn't work alone, of course; there are plenty of other varmints who work with him and around him in various interesting ways.

While the story is straightforward, there are a myriad of motives behind the action that keeps you wondering while you read. Trevellion puts the situation best: "I'm a quiet man, and I'm much alone, but despite that, I like people. At the same time I know we are all subject to temptation and we are all human and you can always find excuses for what you do."

Another reviewer here puts it best: "Easier than reading." L'Amour makes it easy, anyway, and you will enjoy this more leisurely Western excursion of his. It reminded me why I like reading L'Amour even as it raised the bar for future novels of his I encounter.
2120191
This western is one of at least 24 that Ray Hogan wrote having Shawn Starbuck as protagonist, of that I am quite sure for I have 24 of them on my western shelves. And I suspect that a couple more may be in the series, as well.

When a reader chooses a Ray Hogan book two facts immediately appear: one the book will be very well written. And two, the story will be very interesting. From the little I know, Mr. Hogan took a few courses in writing and was off to writing, but those courses could never have afforded him the natural ability he had to tell interesting and entertaining stories. Again, I have in excess of 65 westerns by Ray Hogan on my shelves, and have never read one without appeal.

In this short western novel Shawn comes to the town Brasada, later becoming involved with the troubles of the Pierce Hagerman "Hash Knife" ranch. As normal, Shawn is following a cold trail left by his brother, with Shawn always a couple steps behind. Not until book #24 does he in fact find his brother Ben. Other problems besides Ben trouble the Hagerman ranch, with the most serious being that someone has hired an unknown gunman to kill Pierce Hagerman, at times called 'Mr Texas'.

Hence the title, A Bullet For Mr. Texas, and it is a very prophetic title indeed. And by the ending of this novel, we never do ascertain the identity of the killer, who is himself narrowly killed by Shawn. The many twists and turns of this western will keep most reader's attention, causing most readers wishing to finish the book in a single night.

If you are an inveterate reader of westerns, such as myself, then you need to discover Ray Hogan westerns, or pull some of them out and start rereading ones you've read before. Either way you will have a very fine reading experience.

Happy Saint Pat's day, as well.

Semper Fi.