The Bounty Hunters

Elmore Leonard was an author who paid attention to the writer’s market. He began his career writing westerns. When the demand for Westerns dried up, he turned to the hardboiled crime fiction that would make him famous. But his Westerns should not be ignored. Five of them, including Joe Kidd and 3:10 to Yuma, were made into successful films. The Bounty Hunters (1953), his first Western novel, displays the cold-eyed look at the frontier myth that Cormac McCarthy would later turn into poetry. Civil War veteran and Army scout Dave Flynn and a young Lt. are sent across the Rio Grande in pursuit of an Apache renegade. Our sympathies are with the Apache, though Leonard never sentimentalizes him. The true bad guys in the story are white men show more collecting bounties on Indian scalps, but any long dark hair will do, Indian or not. The style is stripped to the bone. Here is character-building at its most efficient: “Dave Flynn was a month beyond his thirty-first birthday, but from fifteen feet he looked forty. That’s what patrols in Apache country will do.” Later, a character observing Flynn assesses his character: “There was a lot to think about. But Flynn makes everything sound simple. He looks at things one at a time, and doesn’t worry about something that’s supposed to happen next week because there is no assurance there will be a next week. That’s a good way to look at things but it takes some doing.” Such present-mindedness is quintessentially that of a Western hero. show less

Having become more enamored with the man after having the priviledge of meeting him, I now want to read everything he's ever written. The only way to start is at the beginning with his first book. Know what's fascinating? It isn't a good book! There are too many characters whose motivations aren't made clear. The dialogue is inconsistent. Sometimes a person speaks high English, the next scene he's speaking Western slang. It's difficult to figure out what's going on half the time. However, you can see the inklings of talent and what would become of Leonard in the future. Tension is easily built and some whip-smart dialogue is ever-present. How interesting that as I go through his canon, I will see his abilities evolve into the show more grandmaster he is today. show less

This is a classic Elmore Leonard western. We have Apache, scalp hunters, and Mexican Cavalry. Leonard puts two Americans in the middle of this mix. In a triumph of American exceptionalism, our heroes excel by playing the other parties against each other. I can’t think of scalp hunters without Blood Meridian coming to mind. This novel is vastly less dark. In fact, I found the ending exceptionally satisfying. If you are looking for a modern, politically correct narrative, then stay away, but if old-school westerns are your ticket, then this one is for you.

I didn’t know this was Leonard’s first published novel until after I read it. After reading “Valdez is Coming” and “Hombre”--two fantastic westerns-- one would think there’d be a letdown, but I didn’t find that to be the case. Although it is not as tight as his later novels, it is still a fine piece of work that was thoroughly entertaining.

The Bounty Hunters is the first published novel by Elmore Leonard, one of my favoritie authors of westerns. It is apparent immediately that this author can really spin a tale, and although I would say this one is not one of his best, it definitely shows the potential of the talent that he was eventually to showcase.

The Bounty Hunters was somewhat muddied by too many bad guys, at times it was hard to keep them all straight. In fact, even the main characters had to stop and try to figure our which group were the biggest threat. That said, there was plenty of action, from fighting bounty hunters, evading Apaches, or facing down a vindictive killer.

Over the years the author learned to pare down his storyline and present well drawn, show more conflicted characters. The main character in The Bounty Hunters, Dave Flynn, is pretty much a straight shooting hero that gets the job done. Still, The Bounty Hunters had enough grit and western flavor to keep the pages turning. show less

A former US Army guide, David Flynn, is asked to come out of retirement to accompany a young Lieutenant Bowers to cross into Mexico and capture Soldado Viejo, an Apache renegade and bring him back to the US. Flynn knows the land and the nature of the prey he will be chasing.

What he finds when he gets to Mexico is there are two other groups chasing the Apaches- the Mexican Rurales and a scalp hunter group led by Laird Lazair. The latter group kill any dark skinned people and turn in their scalps for payment. The Rurale officer knows they are killing Mexicans but he also makes money on the scalps.

Flynn and Bowers experience many close calls as they try to complete their mission and at the same time put some very bad people out of show more business. I found it a very fast moving, intriguing read. show less

Leonard's first novel, to the best of my knowledge, and, as such, probably best considered 'prentice work, but showing considerable promise. The bounty hunters of the title are actually scalphunters; the same type of scoundrels who were the subject of McCarthy's Blood Meridian. However, the book is really structured along the lines of Hammett's Red Harvest, with the protagonist(s) -- in this case, two Americans on assignment from the US Cavalry -- playing competing interests in a corrupt community (in this case scalphunters, Apaches and rurales) off against each other. Despite a number of awkward moments, stylistically, and many typos, there are several very worthy things here; most notably, a dialogue between the hero and the Apache show more leader that is filled with nuance and menace. show less