Western

Good solid entry in the Sackett series about Tell Sackett being sent into Mexico to locate and rescue a child taken captive by an Apache tribe. Enjoyable. ( )

Slowly, but surely, I made my way through The Lonely Men by Louis L'Amour. In this volume, Tell Sackett is enlisted by his sister in law, Laura, to recover her son who has been kidnapped by Apaches. The rescue mission is dangerous, even potentially suicidal. But, the boy is a Sackett, his brother Orrin's son, so he will take up the attempt. Tell soon learns that Laura's story doesn't completely add up. Why would she lie? Is her son in danger? Will Tell and his friends come back alive?

I listened to a number of L'Amour books on tape a few years back, including Jubal Sackett, which I greatly enjoyed. Around same time, I attempted to read one of his books. What was true then is true now: L'Amour's style is hard for me to engage. I find the writing incongruous with caring about the characters and what happens to them. That is not say that the situations presented aren't rife with peril and drama. What discourages me is L'Amour's, and thus his character's, detachment from the drama. On the flip side, I can see that Tell Sackett is a lonely man as the title declares. He has suffered loss and great pain. He's a nomad, rambling from place to place doing this thing and that. It is how he lives.

The theme of family loyalty, and how L'Amour describes it, is a captivating aspect of his writing. The Sackett family, though spread far and wide, has family loyalty ingrained in them. When one is in need, all are in need, and take steps to address concerns. This is why Tell rides into Indian Territory at the risk of his own life. Along for the ride are his travelling companions, also fiercely loyal, and for a similar, but different reason. Like soldiers on the battlefield, there is a brotherhood of solitary men, who may group together for mutual benefit, not knowing well his companions, but trusting them to his core on their shared journey. This, again, is very well conveyed in L'Amour's prose.

Like many serial westerns, there are gun battles with Apaches and bad men, as well dangerous situations that appear to have no avenue of escape. These fell flat for me in that I just didn't entirely care if they survived. ( )

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Title: The Lonely Men
Series: Sacketts #12
Author: Louis L'Amour
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Western
Pages: 192
Format: Digital Edition

Synopsis:

Tell Sackett gets unknowingly embroiled in the marriage problems of his brother and his sister-in-law. She wants to hurt her husband and the best way to do that is to hurt his brother, so she tells Tell that her son was kidnapped by Apaches and won't Tell please rescue him. This will lead to Tell going into Mexican Territory and either being killed by the Apaches, the desert or the Mexican Army. Thing is, she doesn't have a son.

But Tell gathers up a couple of other Lonely Men and chases down the Apaches. They rescue four children and hook up with the older sister of one of the captive kids. Once they rescue them, it is a running battle back to the States.The children and the older sister make it but only Tell and one of the Lonely Men do. Once back, Tell is embroiled yet again by his sister-in-law (who is very disappointed that he came back alive) and put in jail.He faces down a lynch mob and confronts her. She hires some badmen, who end up getting it from the Apaches and Tell leaves his sister-in-law in the desert with Apaches just behind them.

A good man might never hit or harm a woman, but a good man CAN step aside and stop providing protection to a bad woman.

My Thoughts:

This was some good old cowboys and indians adventure. I enjoyed this quite a bit and found it to be the perfect mix of western, rescue and goodguy versus badguy to make me happy. Just don't have anything else to say about it I guess.

★★★☆½ ( )

This is another book in the Sackett series and features Tell Sackett. Unlike today, news travels slowly and Tell doesn't know that the ex-wife of Orrin Sackett is "ex" and out to make sure Sacketts suffer. So when she informs Tell there's a young Sackett who has been kidnapped by Apaches, he believes her and off he goes.

It is a fun book, full of adventure and wonderful descriptions of the land. Tell is one of my favorite Sackett characters and his observations are always interesting. The only problem is the book is short! It tells the story, though. It is just me wanting to spend more time there.

If you like traditional Westerns, you've probably already read this book. If you haven't, then pick it up; you'll enjoy it. ( )