War Party Review

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(More customer reviews)Of course, eventually, all of L'amour's great old pulp fiction will see book form and, as a huge Louis fan, I'm glad of it. But if you want to read L'Amour's BEST short fiction, this collection, the first, supervised by the author himself back in '75, is your finest bet!
L'Amour was a better writer in his pulp days than he will ever be given credit for. In fact, as a late purveyor of the pulp western's twilight era, I prefer him to Elmore Leonard, H.A. DeRosso, et al. These men were just self-conscious crime writers (with some hipper-than-thou neo-naturalist brightness and talent) who condescended, for a time, to sell westerns. L'Amour, on the other hand, was a believer! -- and BOY, could he knock off a tale!
Also worth noting is the story "The Gift of Cochise," expanded by James Edward Grant into the screenplay for John Wayne's movie HONDO. (L'Amour is now believed to have actually novelized this photoplay-- See Weinberg's LOUIS L'AMOUR COMPANION.) I believe the original story is far better than HONDO-- book or movie! L'Amour's original is more logical and realistic, and the love story works better with the dead husband as a good guy toward whom Ches (later Hondo) Lane feels a driving responsiblity. This was one of L'Amour's greatest perfomances.
Also, check out the other 'slicks' Louis wrote for COLLIER'S and the SATURDAY EVENING POST-- pure, smart story-telling! (Especially the forgotten 1960 Sackett story "Booty For A Badman.") The ladies will love his excursions into "Ranch Romance" territory-- "One For The Pot" and the title story. There's not a single dud here and the collection would be perfect if it included "Bluff Creek Station" (later collected in THE STRONG SHALL LIVE), my personal choice as L'Amour's greatest short story.
So buy it when you can, especially if you have never read Louis L'Amour! This anthology is a perfect introduction to an American legend.
Al

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Bud Miles was a boy when he crossed the Mississippi. But Bud buried his father after an Indian attack, and as the wagon train pushed on through Sioux country, the boy stood as tall as any man ... Tell Sackett killed cougars at fourteen and fought a war at fifteen. Now Tell was hauling dangerous freight--a soldier's wife and a fortune in gold--knowing that someone wanted him dead ... Laurie Bonnet was a mail-order bride who thought she was a failure on the frontier. But when the chips were down, she was the only one who could save her husband's life ... In these marvelous stories of the West, Louis L'Amour tells of travelers, gunfighters, homesteaders, and adventurers: men and women making hard and sudden choices and fighting battles that could cut a person's life short--or open up a bold new future on the American frontier.

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Comstock Lode Review

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(More customer reviews)"Comstock Lode" is just fantastic! This book was written by the famous Western writer, Louis L'Amour. Louis L'Amour has written over a hundred books, including the famous Sackett novels. The setting of this story is in the mid-1800's, during the gold rush in America. The story is told in Virginia City, Nevada.
The main character is Val Trevallion, a young man of twenty-four with a harsh past. Both of his parents were killed when he was young and he has taken it upon himself to have revenge on the killers. He is a quiet man but very strong because of his work in mines. Though he has not had the best education, he is very smart. Grita Redaway is Val's friend from his past. Her parents were also killed by the same people who killed Val's parents. She is a very beautiful and an intelligent actress. She is independent though with a streak of stubbornness in her. Al Hesketh is the villain of the story. He is a cruel and wicked man, only thinking of himself and how he can become rich.
The story begins in Cornwall, England in the year 1859. Val is fourteen-years-old when his father and mother decide to move to America. His father wants to work his own mine in California. He saves enough money so they go to America by boat. When they reached Gunwalloe, the Trevallions decide to travel to California with another family, the Redaways. The Redaways have only one daughter, Grita, who is eight-years-old. A few days before they leave, Val's father goes to buy supplies a few miles away. Suddenly, drunken rustlers attack the wagons in which Val and Grita's mothers are in. The drifters kill the mothers then beat up Mr. Redaway. During the whole time, Val and Grita are hidden nearby; Val protecting Grita and shielding her from the sight. After they leave, killing Mr. Redaway, Val and Grita go find Mr. Trevallion. After the dead are buried, Mr. Trevallion, though heartbroken, decides to carry on to California with Val while Grita goes to live with her aunt. But on the way to California, Val's father is killed by the same men who had killed his mother. Val swears to have revenge on the murderers. Ten years go by, during which Val shoots two of the people who were involved in the murders. Val then realizes that he has wasted his life and decides to settle down and have his own mine in Virginia City, Nevada, where the Comstock Lode is. He gets good land and finds some silver in his mines. But trouble seems to follow him everywhere. He finds out that Grita is in big trouble, in which the remaining men who murdered his parents are involved.
Love this book, and is one of my favorite L'Amour books. Louis L'Amour is the type of writer that, whatever he writes, you'll know before-hand that you'll love them. "Comstock Lode" is no exception. Some other of my favorite L'Amour books are:
*North to the Rails*
*Sackett Series*
*Matagorda*
*Crossfire Trail*
...and this list can go on and on and on!

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It was just a godforsaken mountainside, but no place on earth was richer in silver. For a bustling, enterprising America, this was the great bonanza. The dreamers, the restless, the builders, the vultures—they were lured by the glittering promise of instant riches and survived the brutal hardships of a mining camp to raise a legendary boom town. But some sought more than wealth. Val Trevallion, a loner haunted by a violent past. Grita Redaway, a radiantly beautiful actress driven by an unfulfilled need. Two fiercely independent spirits, together they rose above the challenges of the Comstock to stake a bold claim on the future.

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Lando (The Sacketts) Review

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This book was first issued as a Bantam paperback in December, 1962, having Orlando Sackett as the narrator. The time period circa 1873-1875 was assigned by Louis L'Amour in his Sackett Companion, and that places the book as #8 in the Sackett family series.
This is essentially a fictional story concerning Orlando Sackett, narrated by him, as he leaves the mountains of Tennessee, the Sackett historical homeland, unless you are like Parmalee Sackett, a flatland Sackett. Falcon Sackett, Orlando's father, settled in Tennessee after marrying Orlando's mother to be, Aleyne Kurbishaw. As Orlando leaves the mountains the Tinker (Cosmo Lengro) is his companion, one who says little, but knows much. During the ensuing years of mule raising and racing, bare knuckle fighting, Mexican incarceration, and gold chasing, the Tinker and his wonderfully made knives will be Orlando's guide and companion. I'm not going to give you more of the plot, for those are not the reviews I give, and most other reviews here will offer adequate background as to the plot.
What I will offer is what none of these other reviews knew or offer: there are many details within this deceptively simple novel of the west that are all true. This is a novel from Louis that is a veritable treasure trove of facts.
For instance, the details of what a tinker was, his life and travels, is all true of the times. Jem Mace is mentioned as an English prizefighter of the time, and that is also true: he fought from 1855 through 1864, today classed as a welterweight. The gunfighters of the story: Cullen Baker, Bill Longley and Bob Lee are true characters drawn from this time and place. Governor Edmund Jackson Davis was a real reconstruction governor for the state of Texas, and during his time in office an unknown man, L. H. McNelly, who later became a legend in the Texas Rangers, was part of the governor's police force. Juan Cortina, born in Mexico on May 16, 1824, dying in 1894, also existed. The Bald Knobbers were an actual group of vigilantes around Forsyth, Missouri, who were later disbanded by force, some members being hung, due to their ruffian activities. The cities of Beeville from the 1830s and Oakville, a lawless city Captain McNelly later cleaned up, also existed, and still did at the time of Louis' novel. Finally the Henry Rifle is known to all western readers as a gun appearing during the American Civil War, eventually leading the way to developing the later and famous 1873 Winchester repeating rifles of the frontier. These are just some of the facts and historical notes tucked within this novel, there are more. But these will suffice.
I have all of Louis L'Amour's books in hardcover, and generally enjoy all of them. When I first encountered this one, however, I did not think much of it. But upon discovering the facts that lay behind it and tucked into it, I became more and more interested.
If you want an enjoyable western from Louis, though certainly not in the category of Hondo or Shalako let's say, but still a very interesting read, don't be shy of reading this one. It can be digested in only a few hours, but the facts will add to your western understanding.
Semper Fi.

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In Lando, Louis L'Amour has created an unforgettable portrait of a unique American hero.For six long years Orlando Sackett survived the horrors of a brutal Mexican prison. He survived by using his skills as a boxer and by making three vows. The first was to exact revenge on the hired killers who framed him. The second was to return to his father. And the third was to find Gin Locklear. But the world has changed a lot since Lando left it. His father is missing. The woman he loves is married. And the killers want him dead. Hardened physically and emotionally, Lando must begin an epic journey to resolve his past, even if it costs him his life.

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