Road to Reckoning

The Road to Reckoning - Robert Lautner *****

Strangely enough I picked up this book in a pound shop, you don’t normally see many books worth reading there, but I looked at the blurb and it sounded my type of novel so I gave it a try. There have been a lot of other reviews that go into detail regarding the books similarity to True Grit, but I suppose I am lucky that I have never read it, and can only just about remember seeing the John Wayne film years and years ago, and so I began reading and enjoying with an open mind.

The story is as much a tale of a young boy’s rite of passage as it is a hard hitting western, there has to be something here for nearly every reader. The story is narrated by Thomas Walker, now an old man and looking show more back on his childhood. His father is a spectacle salesman who has ambitions to make a fortune in the Wild West, he chances upon a new Colt pistol and agrees to travel the country selling to stores and offering repeat orders. With Thomas’ mother no longer alive he takes his son with him. Just when things are starting to look up he falls foul of a band of outlaws who rob and kill him, Thomas is spared but is now lost in unknown territory. He stumbles upon ex ranger Henry Stands, a rough and ready character that reluctantly gets roped into being a sort of chaperone. The two make their way across a landscape that has thieves and swindlers at nearly every turn. This definitely isn’t a romanticised look at the olden days, and a few of the miscreants they meet on the way wouldn’t look out of place in a Stephen King novel.

The way in which Lautner writes reminds me very much of Cormac Mcarthy, he manages to describe the surroundings brilliantly without using any words as extra padding and the pages just melt away. I loved this book, and it is quite difficult to believe that this is only the author’s first novel, and I believe he has just released a second which I will definitely be picking up. I think this could become one of my favourite books and I am pretty sure I will revisit it one day. Easily the best new hardback I have ever paid a £1 for, and very recommendable. show less

In his old age, Thomas Walker recalls the week of his life.

At age twelve, he leaves his home in New York with his father to sell the new Colt repeating pistol in the west ("west" being Pennsylvania at the time). His father, a former spectacle salesman who's never fired a gun in his life, is murdered and robbed of his Colts, and the killers are now on the trail of the only witness--young Tom. The twelve-year-old is alone with only a wooden sample pistol and his horse Jude Brown. He soon finds aid, though, in the form of trader and former ranger Henry Stands, a larger-than-life myth of a man, who, not for lack of trying to get out of it, eventually tasks himself with seeing Tom home.

Aside from its obvious, large debt to Charles Portis' show more TRUE GRIT (one of the all-time great western novels), this literate western does what it does extremely well, with a page-turning plot and thoughtful, distinctive voice. (Interesting side note: Lautner is British. Curious to see what he does next.) show less

Give me more from this author. Robert Lautner has crafted a compelling tale of a young boy who lives through a lifetime of experiences in a week. Thomas, not yet in his teen years, has lost his mother to smallpox. His father is trying to make a living selling spectacles in New York during the depression of the early eighteen hundreds. In the hopes of making a better living his father takes a job as a salesman for the recently patented Colt revolver. Thomas and his father head into the sparsely settled hills of central Pennsylvania on the road west. The trip is cut short when they run across a band of outlaws who kill Thomas's father. All their belongings, including their firearm samples are stolen, with the exception of a wooden replica show more of the Colt revolver. Thomas, left on his own, tries to find his way back to New York where his aunt lives. His bad fortune turns when he runs across Henry Stands, a grizzled, mountain of a man. He has no truck for babysitting a twelve year old green horn, but Thomas can be just as stubborn in his quest to get home. The two must find their way east through many trials, including a showdown with the outlaws who killed Thomas's father. This is a very engaging tale that quickly draws you in and keeps your interest from start to finish. show less

It was the cover blurb on the cover of Robert Lautner's book, Road to Reckoning, that compelled me to pick it up....."Those who love True Grit will love this."

1837 New York City. Thomas Walker and his father (formerly a spectacle salesman) strike out on the road West to sell a new product - guns. Specifically, Samuel Colt's new improved 'revolving gun'. They have samples to show and Thomas has a wooden replica as well. Walker Sr. is a gentle man, not one overly familiar with guns or violence. It is inevitable that others would want and simply take the guns. But what is also taken Walker Sr.'s life. Leaving young Thomas alone to fend for himself....until he hooks up with Henry Stands - a man more than familiar with the use of guns.

It show more is Thomas in his older years who narrates the tale of his youth.

"I, to this day, hold to only one truth: if a man chooses to carry a gun he will get shot. My father agreed to carry twelve."

Young Thomas is old beyond his years, yet still a child. Lautner wonderfully describes the relationship between Thomas and his father, making it all the more heartbreaking when it is cut short. The relationship between Stands and Thomas is just as moving. Stands as a character leapt off the page for me. The prose are spare, but Thomas's observations and thoughts are compelling. The Road to Reckoning is filled with adventure and action as well. And Lautner's descriptions of time and place set the tone perfectly. The history of firearms and Colt's fledgling revolver was also very interesting.

Lautner has written a Western coming of age tale set on the rough roads and towns of a young America. And yes, it is very similar in tone to True Grit. But definitely worth a read. (And it would make a great movie)

(I was surprised to see that Lautner is not an American author - rather he lives in Wales.) show less

A lot of reviewers have seen similarities between this novel and True Grit. They sure ain't wrong. There is a similarity in the hard almost Biblical prose and the theme/setting sort of also links to modern westerns such as Cormac McCarthy. I enjoyed this book even though the time scale was very very compressed when you stopped to think about it. What was very impressive was the way the author maintained the tone of voice throughout - less so was the element of hindsight (this is where the authorial voice wavered for me) because are we reading through the eyes of a twelve year old or through those of a worldly wise father who has lost two sons to the Civil War and the revolving cylinder pistol? But these are quibbles really - my kind of show more book in all. show less

I thought I would give this a try since it is an almost western written by an Englishman. It felt pretty authentic to me. The narrator was an older man telling the story of his youthful trek to the west to sell Henry Colt's first gun to the settlers. The west being in this instance Pennsylvania or Indiana. The writing was of that vague not quite concrete type, sort of a reproduction of the style of that time. The characters were vivid. The places and happenings were very vivid also. Worth the read and I would try this author again.

Young Thomas Walker is living with his aunt while his father goes about New York selling spectacles. His mother has died and his aunt is trying to educate him as she thinks is best. The country is experiencing some financial difficulties so the commissions are not coming as they once were and so his father takes a chance on selling something new. Very new - a gun with a revolving barrel from an inventor by the name of Samuel Colt. They set off to take orders for this gun will not be produced one at a time but rather factory produced which will make it much more affordable.

The world though is not quite ready for this invention, nor is it necessarily a safe place as Thomas soon finds out when he finds himself with only a wooden replica of show more the revolver and his horse. Now he just wants to get back to his Aunt's house and to get the money that Mr. Colt owes his father for the orders they took and the guns they sold. How will a 12 year old boy navigate his way back home? It sounds impossible but Thomas is lucky to find if not a friend, then a companion to make the way easier.

When I was reading this book I truly enjoyed it. It's very much out of my usual reading world and it did take me a bit to get used to the cadence of the writing. Once I did I found myself caught up in the story. Now as I sit here and type this review I do realize that much of the story is quite implausible and reality really needs be suspended to allow the tale to proceed. If you allow this to happen and don't think too hard on what's really going on you too will find the story engaging if a bit dark. I was rooting for Thomas - the story is told from his point of view as he looks backwards in time with some foreshadowing of what is to come. All in all a solid read. show less