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Fiction. Western. Thriller. Historical Fiction. Trent came to Idaho seeking solitude. He built a cabin, broke a few wild horses, and quietly put his past behind him. Then King Bill Hale began laying claim to all the land around Cedar Bluff. When Hale’s son kills one of Trent’s neighbors, Trent quickly steps forward to lead the fight. Their property had been legally filed on, but Bill Hale has the men, money, and political power to steal it from them. What Hale doesn’t realize is that show more Trent also has connections. With evidence that can ruin Hale’s scheme, Trent must find a way past Hale’s gang of thugs to the men who can help him. However, if Trent succeeds, his violent past will be revealed; if he fails, the others may forfeit their land. But Trent could forfeit his life. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Interesting and satisfying continuation of the Kilkenny series. I like Lance Kilkenny, a more complex character than one expects in this genre. The plot has been done before, cattle king vs. nesters, but for me the human interactions makes this a better than average tale by L'Amour.
Review from November 2020
Review from November 2020
Kilkenny appears again, trying to make a home in the mountains, making friends, and remaining incognito. But King Bill Hale thinks he's entitled to all the land, and is determined to drive out the "nesters." Lance's old love, Nita, in on hand, too - and is determined to make Lance settle down this time.
Product Description
Holed up in a cabin in the Idaho hills, the mysterious man who called himself Trent wasn't looking for trouble. It came looking for him. A trigger-happy kid named Cub Hale emptied his gun into an unarmed man. Then he came swaggering after Trent. The girl who ran the gambling hall tried to get him to hightail it. But Trent wasn't buying. Even in that forsaken back country, he knew when a man had to speak with his shooting iron.
From the Publisher
Holed up in a cabin in the Idaho hills, the mysterious man who called himself Trent wasn't looking for trouble. It came looking for him. A trigger-happy kid named Cub Hale emptied his gun into an unarmed man. Then he came swaggering after Trent. The girl who ran the gambling show more hall tried to get him to hightail it. But Trent wasn't buying. Even in that forsaken back country, he knew when a man had to speak with his shooting iron. show less
#391 in our old book database. Not rated.
Kilkenny , Book 2
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Author Information
871+ Works 99,746 Members
Born in Jamestown, North Dakota on March 22, 1908, Louis L'Amour's adventurous life could have been the subject of one of his novels. Striking out on his own in 1923, at age 15, L'Amour began a peripatetic existence, taking whatever jobs were available, from skinning dead cattle to being a sailor. L'Amour knew early in life that he wanted to be a show more writer, and the experiences of those years serve as background for some of his later fiction. During the 1930s he published short stories and poetry; his career was interrupted by army service in World War II. After the war, L'Amour began writing for western pulp magazines and wrote several books in the Hopalong Cassidy series using the pseudonym Tex Burns. His first novel, Westward the Tide (1950), serves as an example of L'Amour's frontier fiction, for it is an action-packed adventure story containing the themes and motifs that he uses throughout his career. His fascination with history and his belief in the inevitability of manifest destiny are clear. Also present and typical of L'Amour's work are the strong, capable, beautiful heroine who is immediately attracted to the equally capable hero; a clear moral split between good and evil; reflections on the Native Americans, whose land and ways of life are being disrupted; and a happy ending. Although his work is somewhat less violent than that of other western writers, L'Amour's novels all contain their fair share of action, usually in the form of gunfights or fistfights. L'Amour's major contribution to the western genre is his attempt to create, in 40 or more books, the stories of three families whose histories intertwine as the generations advance across the American frontier. The novels of the Irish Chantry, English Sackett, and French Talon families are L'Amour's most ambitious project, and sadly were left unfinished at his death. Although L'Amour did not complete all of the novels, enough of the series exists to demonstrate his vision. L'Amour's strongest attribute is his ability to tell a compelling story; readers do not mind if the story is similar to one they have read before, for in the telling, L'Amour adds enough small twists of plot and detail to make it worth the reader's while. L'Amour fans also enjoy the bits of information he includes about everything from wilderness survival skills to finding the right person to marry. These lessons give readers the sense that they are getting their money's worth, that there is more to a L'Amour novel than sheer escapism. With over 200 million copies of his books in print worldwide, L'Amour must be counted as one of the most influential writers of westerns in this century. He died from lung cancer on June 10, 1988. (Bowker Author Biography) Louis L'Amour, truly America's favorite storyteller, was the first fiction writer ever to receive the Congressional Gold Medal from the United States Congress in honor of his life's work, & was also awarded the Medal of Freedom. There are over 260 million copies of his books in print worldwide. (Publisher Provided) show less
Series
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Mountain Valley War
- Original publication date
- 1978
- Epigraph
- [None]
- Dedication
- [None]
- First words
- Smoke lifted from the charred timbers where once the house had stood, and curled wistfully in memory of the great barn Moffat had built to store hay and grain against the coming winters.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"Let Sally pour it," he said. "You stay here."
- Original language
- English
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 723
- Popularity
- 39,158
- Reviews
- 7
- Rating
- (3.78)
- Languages
- Danish, English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 16
- ASINs
- 12
