Appaloosa

Everything you could hope for from a western story. I loved the film adaptation and can see now that it was very faithful to its source. All the plot development and snappy dialogue is present, and in Cole and Hitch we see two honest, simple lawmen with hidden depths. The scene in which Cole and Hitch's friendship stands up to Allie's crude accusations is a thing of understated beauty, in both book and film. Indeed, the whole tone of the book is one of reserve and dignity, and this fits in well with writer Robert B. Parker's hard-boiled between-the-lines writing style. As Allie says on page 69, "Sometimes I sit here and watch you grunt at each other, and have the feeling that there's a whole conversation going on that I don't even show more hear." In Cole and Hitch, Parker has created an enduring and enjoyable example of the unspoken bond that can exist between male friends.

And this is one of the most credible characteristics of Appaloosa: behind the gunplay and the other Western tropes there is a piece of literature. As Cole says on page 77, it "ain't just gun work. Gotta think about men, too", and the motivations of Parker's characters are always clear and coherent. Virgil Cole is a tough, honest man trying to better himself but aware of his limitations. Everett Hitch is the capable, thoughtful man who knows he neither wants nor needs to be the alpha male. Bragg is the vicious, cowardly bully who's never had to face down a man and doesn't know what to do now that he has to. And Allie is the woman every man living has known at some point but never seen realised on the page before, and credit has to go to Parker for bringing her to life with an even hand.

It is quite remarkable that Appaloosa manages to contain such wealth whilst remaining an easy-to-read adventure. It is the sort of book that can spin frontier wisdom without it sounding kitsch, and can quote Emerson and Clausewitz without sounding pretentious. It is the epitome of brevity; the courtroom trial is over in just a few pages, despite being a scenario that weighs down many books. This can be a minor drawback on occasion – some of Bragg's circumstances late on in the book remain unexplained – and some of its features play better on screen, not least the eight-gauge shotgun which is almost a character in itself in the film. But the book manages to quickly flood the reader with riches without requiring them to even work for it: a credit to Parker's skill.

"'Took about a minute,' I said.
'Everybody could shoot,' Cole said." (pg. 225) show less

"If Spenser and Hawk had been around when the West was wild, they'd have talked like Cole and Hitch." (Kirkus Reviews) They would. I love spending time in Bob Parker's worlds---all of them. This book is a gem of male marvelousness, complete with a hero "riding off into the sunset". But I've got the next one in the series, and I know it doesn't end there. 'Scuse me while I go see just what the hell Hitch thinks he's going to do now. (And if you haven't seen the movie yet, you should. Ed Harris and Viggo Mortenson are the best buddies since Newman and Redford.)
Review written November 2009

Robert B. Parker is known for his detective novels - his interconnected Boston (and the region) based series have more of 50 books between them (and all 3 series had been continued after his death). But in his standalone novels he explored almost every genre (except for speculative fiction) - romance, crime, family sagas, westerns and sports were all covered. "Appaloosa" is not the first western that he wrote, fictionalized biographical novel of Wyatt Earp("Gunman's Rhapsody") had already proven than his style works for the genre. And this novel shows it even more - without the historical figures and the known story to support and be reinterpreted, Parker creates his own Wild West that is as alive as the real one.

Meet Virgil Cole and show more Everett Hitch - lawmen in the Wild West who travel around the country and take the law in their hands (legally) when things go especially bad. And in the town of Appaloosa they had - a local land owner had been terrorizing everyone (the novel opens with a horrific scene of violence) and anyone who has anything against it gets killed - including the old lawman. So the town calls our guys and they set to solving the problem - in their way.

The story is told by Everett Hitch - the helper to the much more ruthless Virgil Cole. Which does not mean that Hitch is in any way innocent or that he does not kill. But Cole likes his guns and knows how to use them - and even when no gun is around, he can be violent, regardless of the propriety of the situation.

And then someone finds a way to almost disable Virgil - because he falls in love. Then things go badly -- for everyone besides the woman anyway...

It is a gunslinger novel but it is not just that. Somewhere under the deceptively easy prose which is the usual Parker style is hiding a whole world. If anything it is even better used here than in the Spenser series - the Boston of Spenser is known to the world so you back-fill some of the missing information; here you cannot and you do not need to. And despite the spare style there are the nature pictures and the Appaloosa stud and his mares, there are the people of a town somewhere in the middle of nowhere.

I had been listening to the surviving episodes of the radio version of Gunsmoke (most of them made it through time actually) and the world of Parker is very close to the world of Gunsmoke - I was even looking for parallels between the two. They are not the same ones, neither this later one is modeled on it. But they have the same feeling and the same deceptive simplicity that is anything but.

I am planning to continue with this series at least with the novels that Parker managed to finish (only 4) but if the other 3 series are any indication, I will probably decide to continue even with the authors who took the series and continued it after his death. And I probably should read more westerns... show less

This is a very fine western, something that rises quite a bit above standard fare. Virgil Cole can be a mean sonofabitch. He gets a bean up his ass and he's liable to beat the shit out of someone for no reason at all. I'm not too fond of that aspect of his character. However, he does try hard to be a good guy, a town marshall when one is needed. Not too many people can do what he does. The story is told by his "assistant" Everett Hitch. Hitch is a keen observer.

The story is told in an easy to read style that manages to display some fine writing. The basic story is a familiar one. Bad guys rule a small town. Someone needs to clean it up. A woman manages to get in the way of things. Parker handles the familiar elements very well. I think show more what makes this a very fine novel is that it is about a friendship and what that friendship means and the sacrifice that a friend will make when it is needed.

I remember when I saw the film a few years ago that I thought I should read the book. I am glad I did. show less

Really good western novels are few and far between. Appaloosa by Robert B. Parker can join that rare breed as it more than exceeded my expectations. Good story, original and interesting characters, a place setting that helped define the book.

The small town of Appaloosa needed help in dealing with a ruthless rancher and his hired guns. They found what they needed when Virgil Cole and his assistant Everett Hitch ride in town. Cleaning up towns is their specialty. Yes, the plot is familiar but Robert Parker manages to put his own twist on events. He also adds a few bumps in road for Cole and Hitch, especially in the person of Allie French, a woman of mystery that Cole takes up with.

I have seen the excellent movie that has been made from show more this book and I had a hard time divorcing myself from the movie characters while I read this book. Although picturing Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen is not exactly a hardship. One of my favorite things in this book is the dialogue, sparse yet full of prose, it positively rolls off the tongue.

If you are in the mood for a straight forward, adventuresome western yarn, Appaloosa is the real deal. show less

Appaloosa is one of the best Western novels that I have read, and Robert Parker’s finest novel. The two principal characters, Virgil Cole and his deputy, Everett Hitch, who narrates the story, are two very well-rounded and likeable characters. Part of the reason that the novel really works is the presence of these two characters. In this story, Cole and Hitch arrive in a new town where the resident bad guy, Randall Bragg, killed the previous marshal and deputy. After they arrest Bragg, he is tried and sentenced to be hanged. This leads up to a climactic gun fight where hired guns are trying to free Bragg. Meanwhile Cole falls for a high maintenance woman that Hitch knows is no good for him. When Bragg returns to town this sets up for show more a climactic and surprise ending.

There are many things that make Apaloosa work, but what I liked most is the easy going narration style that really complements the mood and content of the novel. The prose is written professionally with few flaws. This is a quickly paced novel packed with plenty of action. Even if you are like me and don’t typically read Westerns, this one is well worth reading.

Carl Alves – author of Blood Street show less

"If Spenser and Hawk had been around when the West was wild, they'd have talked like Cole and Hitch." (Kirkus Reviews) They would. I love spending time in Bob Parker's worlds---all of them. This book is a gem of male marvelousness, complete with a hero "riding off into the sunset". But I've got the next one in the series, and I know it doesn't end there. 'Scuse me while I go see just what the hell Hitch thinks he's going to do now. (And if you haven't seen the movie yet, you should. Ed Harris and Viggo Mortenson are the best buddies since Newman and Redford.)
Review written November 2009