Taggart
by Louis L'Amour
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Adam Stark had found gold. In the confusion of the mesas and canyons near Rockinstraw Mountain, Stark, his wife, Consuelo, and his sister, Miriam, were quietly working a rich vein while keeping their presence a secret from raiding Apaches. Worried that his wife might leave him, Stark wanted to make enough money to take her to San Francisco, where she could enjoy the style of life she craved.But when Taggart, a stranger on the run from a vicious bounty hunter, enters their camp, tensions show more soon mount. Consuelo, against all good judgment, cannot resist testing Taggart. Is he the man who can make her happy? Will he give her the life her husband cannot? With thousands of dollars of gold in his packsadles, the Apaches are now no longer Adam Stark's only threat.
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Member Reviews
No Country for Old Men was my first time reading anything that could be considered a Western, but Taggart is my first time digging into a pulp Western. Louis L'Amour has a better reputation than most, so when I came across a couple of his in a charity shop, I grabbed them.
Taggart isn't perhaps his most popular (at least not next to the likes of Hondo and the Sackett books), but it seems to have a reputation for being a solid entry in the L'Amour canon. It was also adapted to film in 1964.
This felt like a decent entry point. Taggart is 120 pages of no-nonsense genre entertainment. It doesn't sparkle with flair or deliver on any kind of subtext; it's more or less a romance novel set in the old West and injected with some action. There's show more the odd line here or there that has a nice cadence, but for the most part the prose is merely functional and inoffensive.
L'Amour does have a bad habit here of giving the reader exposition through narration, when it would be much more compelling to have it later revealed through dialogue. For something so short and simple, the story isn't marvelously paced either; I'd even go as far as to label it a "stretched" short story. But the characters here are just about developed well enough to encourage investment and, once we have our lengthy character introductions out of the way, it makes for an enjoyable read. Some of the action I found a bit tedious, but other moments were well conveyed. Action in general is a hard thing to write, I think, (or at least in a way that doesn't come across as clunky) so it's always refreshing to see it delivered with style and brevity.
I snickered at some character moments, more as a way of shielding against the cheese. In spite of the sentimentality, I thought the ending scene and closing line was a nice touch.
I've not been swept off my feet but I'm not against reading L'Amour again. I will at least read the other one I have on my shelf: Hondo. show less
Taggart isn't perhaps his most popular (at least not next to the likes of Hondo and the Sackett books), but it seems to have a reputation for being a solid entry in the L'Amour canon. It was also adapted to film in 1964.
This felt like a decent entry point. Taggart is 120 pages of no-nonsense genre entertainment. It doesn't sparkle with flair or deliver on any kind of subtext; it's more or less a romance novel set in the old West and injected with some action. There's show more the odd line here or there that has a nice cadence, but for the most part the prose is merely functional and inoffensive.
L'Amour does have a bad habit here of giving the reader exposition through narration, when it would be much more compelling to have it later revealed through dialogue. For something so short and simple, the story isn't marvelously paced either; I'd even go as far as to label it a "stretched" short story. But the characters here are just about developed well enough to encourage investment and, once we have our lengthy character introductions out of the way, it makes for an enjoyable read. Some of the action I found a bit tedious, but other moments were well conveyed. Action in general is a hard thing to write, I think, (or at least in a way that doesn't come across as clunky) so it's always refreshing to see it delivered with style and brevity.
I snickered at some character moments, more as a way of shielding against the cheese. In spite of the sentimentality, I thought the ending scene and closing line was a nice touch.
I've not been swept off my feet but I'm not against reading L'Amour again. I will at least read the other one I have on my shelf: Hondo. show less
An absorbing story of a man being pursued unjustly by a posse. He discovers a miner and his family hiding from an Apache war party. A little of everything, fun read!
A reworking of an old short story called "Trap of Gold." L'Amour expands the simple tale of a man and his gold discovery into a fuller story complete with a wife that thinks she doesn't love him, a sister looking for a man good enough for her, and a crooked sheriff who wants the women and the gold. The only thing that stands in the way of evil is a drifter known as Taggart, and the courage and strength of Adam Stark himself.
Another hero with a strong pioneer woman story.
Product Description
His name was Taggart and he rode with a price on his head through the bloodred canyons of Apache country. Behind him was a ruthless bounty hunter—the deadliest lawman in the West. In front of him was a fortune in gold—and a pretty young woman hell-bent on carrying that fortune to safety. Suddenly Taggart was faced with a choice. He could either keep riding and leave the stubborn lady to fate and the Apaches. Or he could stay and help her make it out alive. But for a man like Taggart the answer was simple. He would stay. Even if it meant cutting off his own escape—even if it meant doubling his chance of death.
From the Inside Flap
His name was Taggart and he rode with a price on his head through the bloodred show more canyons of Apache country. Behind him was a ruthless bounty hunter--the deadliest lawman in the West. In front of him was a fortune in gold--and a pretty young woman hell-bent on carrying that fortune to safety. Suddenly Taggart was faced with a choice. He could either keep riding and leave the stubborn lady to fate and the Apaches. Or he could stay and help her make it out alive. But for a man like Taggart the answer was simple. He would stay. Even if it meant cutting off his own escape--even if it meant doubling his chance of death. show less
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Author Information
870+ Works 99,284 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
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1959
- People/Characters
- Adam Stark; Miriam Stark; Consuelo Stark; Swante Taggart; Pete Shoyer
- Important places
- Rockinstraw Mountain, Arizona, USA
- Related movies
- Taggart (1964 | IMDb)
- First words
- Adam Stark was three months out of Tucson when he found his first color.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)It was all he had when he rode up to the canyon of the chapel, and now he still had his horse and his gun, but he also had a woman and a friend.
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Statistics
- Members
- 598
- Popularity
- 48,760
- Reviews
- 7
- Rating
- (3.61)
- Languages
- English, German
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 23
- ASINs
- 15
