cnorbury's review against another edition
3.0
Leonard's first novel. It didn't stand out to me as exceptional but it was certainly well-written. Some of his style traits are apparent early on, especially his economical use of dialogue and "leaving out the parts people tend to skip."
I don't read a lot of classic westerns such as this, so I can't compare it to other authors like Louis L-Amour and Zane Gray, but if you enjoy that genre, Leonard is certainly worth reading since he wrote numerous westerns before starting to branch out into his more modern works like "Get Shorty" and "Be Cool."
I don't read a lot of classic westerns such as this, so I can't compare it to other authors like Louis L-Amour and Zane Gray, but if you enjoy that genre, Leonard is certainly worth reading since he wrote numerous westerns before starting to branch out into his more modern works like "Get Shorty" and "Be Cool."
martrj's review against another edition
4.0
Elmore Leonard is a master of great dialogue and perfectly dovetailing multiple storylines, and he makes both look effortless.
luana420's review against another edition
4.0
No nonsense dudes on a mission book! Brisk, fast-paced, witty and exciting!
rhubarb1608's review against another edition
3.0
One day about two years ago I woke up and wondered, "Why do I think I hate westerns? They contain so many things that I like!" Hunting and gathering, horses, wild frontier lands with minimal law enforcement, unlikely partnerships, sass, beautiful scenery in the American west . . . and very few females! So I decided empirically to begin reading westerns. I wrote down some names, did some research about popular writers and recognized good works, recommendations and the like, and this was one.
I thought it was good. I'm a character buff, it's why I get into anything be it show, movie, book, or what have you. David Flynn is an ex-army Civil War veteran who earns his living as a guide out in frontier Arizona. He starts off the book in a barber shop not taking any guff from a noisy drunk named Frank Rellis who spends the rest of the book determined to murder Flynn for beating his lights out.
Flynn has just taken on a job for the US Army. For $4 per day (close to $100 in 2014 USD), he's agreed to guide an army officer south of the Mexican border in search of an Apache band to take out their leader. His partner is Bowers, a cavalry lieutenant fresh from West Point who would fit the recruitment poster if they had one. His father was a great soldier and he's determined to follow in his footsteps. Flynn objects to his youth and inexperience, but Bowers' commanding officer will not be swayed and the two head for a little Mexican town in search of these bandits.
They are not the titular bounty hunters, though--that's a band of villains who have been selling scalps to the officer in charge of the Mexican village of Soyopa. Lieutenant Duro gives 100 pesos per Apache scalp, as authorized by the Mexican government, but the scalps he's buying and selling aren't exclusively Apache and he knows it. He's too drunk and jaded to care.
Also in the village is Hilario, the alcalde, whose family goes back with Flynn a ways. When Flynn meets up with him, though, he doesn't have any good news at all: Flynn and Bowers have found Hilario's entire family, his brother, sister-in-law, their children and all, slaughtered and scalped with their burned out wagons on the trail back to Soyopa. Only Hilario's own daughter, Nita, is missing, and Flynn doesn't think it was Apaches who took her, or who did the killing.
Back to the question of what made it good. I loved watching the partnership grow between Flynn and Bowers. I didn't think anyone in the book was flat: when they meet their quarry, he's a grandfatherly old Indian with good reason to want to avoid the reservations. But Flynn's just a man doing his job. Duro's doing his job, too, selling illegal scalps to get money for liquor because if he doesn't drink, the devil and death will torment him. There's a backstory and subtext to everyone, and Nita, though she doesn't have much of a role, is no helpless wallflower, either.
Would I recommend it? It's hard to say. The trouble with "genre" fiction is that people get into grooves of thinking, "Well, I hate X," "I don't read Y," "it's just not my thing." That's why I purposely broke myself out of thinking "I don't read westerns." I'm almost to the point I don't think in terms of genre at all, which is my main goal. All I want to know is if a book is interesting with rich characters. The rest can speak for itself -- where they are, when they are, whatever. So, I say this about it: it's a fine adventure with a good rich cast of characters. It thinks about issues such as duty and morality, the surface vs. the interior, and faith in a structure outside of one's self. I think it had a good ending, was well-written, and had several breathtaking moments.
Review via Hundredaire Socialite.
I thought it was good. I'm a character buff, it's why I get into anything be it show, movie, book, or what have you. David Flynn is an ex-army Civil War veteran who earns his living as a guide out in frontier Arizona. He starts off the book in a barber shop not taking any guff from a noisy drunk named Frank Rellis who spends the rest of the book determined to murder Flynn for beating his lights out.
Flynn has just taken on a job for the US Army. For $4 per day (close to $100 in 2014 USD), he's agreed to guide an army officer south of the Mexican border in search of an Apache band to take out their leader. His partner is Bowers, a cavalry lieutenant fresh from West Point who would fit the recruitment poster if they had one. His father was a great soldier and he's determined to follow in his footsteps. Flynn objects to his youth and inexperience, but Bowers' commanding officer will not be swayed and the two head for a little Mexican town in search of these bandits.
They are not the titular bounty hunters, though--that's a band of villains who have been selling scalps to the officer in charge of the Mexican village of Soyopa. Lieutenant Duro gives 100 pesos per Apache scalp, as authorized by the Mexican government, but the scalps he's buying and selling aren't exclusively Apache and he knows it. He's too drunk and jaded to care.
Also in the village is Hilario, the alcalde, whose family goes back with Flynn a ways. When Flynn meets up with him, though, he doesn't have any good news at all: Flynn and Bowers have found Hilario's entire family, his brother, sister-in-law, their children and all, slaughtered and scalped with their burned out wagons on the trail back to Soyopa. Only Hilario's own daughter, Nita, is missing, and Flynn doesn't think it was Apaches who took her, or who did the killing.
Back to the question of what made it good. I loved watching the partnership grow between Flynn and Bowers. I didn't think anyone in the book was flat: when they meet their quarry, he's a grandfatherly old Indian with good reason to want to avoid the reservations. But Flynn's just a man doing his job. Duro's doing his job, too, selling illegal scalps to get money for liquor because if he doesn't drink, the devil and death will torment him. There's a backstory and subtext to everyone, and Nita, though she doesn't have much of a role, is no helpless wallflower, either.
Would I recommend it? It's hard to say. The trouble with "genre" fiction is that people get into grooves of thinking, "Well, I hate X," "I don't read Y," "it's just not my thing." That's why I purposely broke myself out of thinking "I don't read westerns." I'm almost to the point I don't think in terms of genre at all, which is my main goal. All I want to know is if a book is interesting with rich characters. The rest can speak for itself -- where they are, when they are, whatever. So, I say this about it: it's a fine adventure with a good rich cast of characters. It thinks about issues such as duty and morality, the surface vs. the interior, and faith in a structure outside of one's self. I think it had a good ending, was well-written, and had several breathtaking moments.
Review via Hundredaire Socialite.
wilsonthomasjoseph's review against another edition
4.0
Definitely an Elmore Leonard novel. Solid Western tropes. A quick and entertaining read, especially so since this is Leonard's first novel.
antij's review
3.0
I'm not a huge fan of westerns. I read this story because I'm a fan of Elmore Leonard, but it wasn't as good as his later stories.
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