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A Sackett novel in L’Amour’s series about a huge clan of tough mountain men who come riding to the rescue if one of them is in trouble. I listened to this one on audio.
This opens with a fantastic example of “start with your hero treed by wolves, then set fire to the tree.” Often this sort of extreme hook is ends up ho-hum, as the writer either hasn’t given us a reason to care about the hero, or doesn’t know where to go post-tree escape, or the situation, while dangerous, is not also interesting. If you want to see that sort of hook done well, read this book. It’s also a good example of flashback narration.
It opens with Flagan Sackett in the mountain wilderness, watching a moose being stalked by a pack of wolves. He’s lurking in the hope of scaring off the wolves and getting the meat, because…
- Four days previously, he was separated from his brother Galloway and captured by Apaches, who stripped him naked and spent the night torturing him.
- Three days previously, he managed to escape. Naked and barefoot. Running over sharp rocks which badly cut his feet. Pursued by a bunch of very determined Apaches…
- …who are still chasing him, three days later. He’s still naked and has not eaten in three days while expending tons of energy fleeing Apaches, while he can barely walk and is totally lost in the unforgiving, freezing wilderness.
- …at which point he notices that he is being stalked by a lone wolf.
Seriously, how great is that? About a fourth of the total novel concerns Flagan alone in the wilderness, and it’s one of the best and most vivid fictional wilderness survival narratives I’ve read. Even one of L’Amour’s best, and he’s very good at that.
Meanwhile, Galloway is alternately trying to find Flagan and trying to establish a ranch for both of them. His chapters are third person; Flagan’s are first. Flagan’s are more fun – he’s got more of a sense of humor.
The book breaks down like this:
1. Lost in wilderness: AWESOME. A+.
Subplot 1: The lone wolf. A+. Beautifully woven into the novel, with great and unexpected conclusion.
2. Ranch war, in which Flagan and Galloway try to mind their own business while being attacked by a bunch of evil ranchers with an apparently unlimited supply of psychopathic henchmen. A-. Misses "awesome" by comparison with the lost in the woods sections. But still pretty good, with a fantastic supporting character, an erudite outlaw Sackett who descends periodically to perform amazing feats of badassery.
Subplot 2: Flagan’s romance. F. Absolutely dreadful. L’Amour can write good female characters, but this is not one of them. Flagan inexplicably falls for this obnoxious, shallow woman who refuses to believe obvious truths due to having a crush on a handsome psychopath. When she FINALLY grudgingly admits that he’s a psychopath, she promptly falls for a SECOND psychopath. Too stupid to live.
3/4ths excellent, 1/4th awful. Would probably be better read as a book rather than listened to, because then I could have skimmed the romance.
Galloway (Sacketts)
This opens with a fantastic example of “start with your hero treed by wolves, then set fire to the tree.” Often this sort of extreme hook is ends up ho-hum, as the writer either hasn’t given us a reason to care about the hero, or doesn’t know where to go post-tree escape, or the situation, while dangerous, is not also interesting. If you want to see that sort of hook done well, read this book. It’s also a good example of flashback narration.
It opens with Flagan Sackett in the mountain wilderness, watching a moose being stalked by a pack of wolves. He’s lurking in the hope of scaring off the wolves and getting the meat, because…
- Four days previously, he was separated from his brother Galloway and captured by Apaches, who stripped him naked and spent the night torturing him.
- Three days previously, he managed to escape. Naked and barefoot. Running over sharp rocks which badly cut his feet. Pursued by a bunch of very determined Apaches…
- …who are still chasing him, three days later. He’s still naked and has not eaten in three days while expending tons of energy fleeing Apaches, while he can barely walk and is totally lost in the unforgiving, freezing wilderness.
- …at which point he notices that he is being stalked by a lone wolf.
Seriously, how great is that? About a fourth of the total novel concerns Flagan alone in the wilderness, and it’s one of the best and most vivid fictional wilderness survival narratives I’ve read. Even one of L’Amour’s best, and he’s very good at that.
Meanwhile, Galloway is alternately trying to find Flagan and trying to establish a ranch for both of them. His chapters are third person; Flagan’s are first. Flagan’s are more fun – he’s got more of a sense of humor.
The book breaks down like this:
1. Lost in wilderness: AWESOME. A+.
Subplot 1: The lone wolf. A+. Beautifully woven into the novel, with great and unexpected conclusion.
2. Ranch war, in which Flagan and Galloway try to mind their own business while being attacked by a bunch of evil ranchers with an apparently unlimited supply of psychopathic henchmen. A-. Misses "awesome" by comparison with the lost in the woods sections. But still pretty good, with a fantastic supporting character, an erudite outlaw Sackett who descends periodically to perform amazing feats of badassery.
Subplot 2: Flagan’s romance. F. Absolutely dreadful. L’Amour can write good female characters, but this is not one of them. Flagan inexplicably falls for this obnoxious, shallow woman who refuses to believe obvious truths due to having a crush on a handsome psychopath. When she FINALLY grudgingly admits that he’s a psychopath, she promptly falls for a SECOND psychopath. Too stupid to live.
3/4ths excellent, 1/4th awful. Would probably be better read as a book rather than listened to, because then I could have skimmed the romance.
Galloway (Sacketts)
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