The Lonely Men

Rating:
Summary: Superbly narrated by David Strathairn
Review: Another thrilling installment in Louis L'Amour's outstanding western series "The Sacketts", The Lonely Men finds that Tell Sackett's nephew has been kidnapped by the Apaches. Accompanied by John J. Battles, Spanish Murphy, and the half-breed Tampico, Tell makes his way to the Aaches' Sierra Madre stronghold. But then all is not as it seems and their could be more against him than just the Apaches! Superbly narrated by David Strathairn, this flawlessly produced and recorded audiobook edition is complete and unabridged and consists of four 90 minute cassettes in a sturdy plastic shell that makes it an ideal acquition for community library audiobook collections.

Rating:
Summary: Superbly narrated by David Strathairn
Review: Another thrilling installment in Louis L'Amour's outstanding western series "The Sacketts", The Lonely Men finds that Tell Sackett's nephew has been kidnapped by the Apaches. Accompanied by John J. Battles, Spanish Murphy, and the half-breed Tampico, Tell makes his way to the Aaches' Sierra Madre stronghold. But then all is not as it seems and their could be more against him than just the Apaches! Superbly narrated by David Strathairn, this flawlessly produced and recorded audiobook edition is complete and unabridged and consists of four 90 minute cassettes in a sturdy plastic shell that makes it an ideal acquition for community library audiobook collections.

Rating:
Summary: This is one of the best books i have ever red
Review: anyone that has ever red this book and said it was bad that do not know what they are talking about. thies was a lot of good parts in it i could not put it down in some parts in the book.

Rating:
Summary: Don't Listen to Bryan Thomas from Connecticut
Review: I have read all but 4 of Mr. L'Amour's (that doesn't include his short stories) and I have to admit this is not his best book but still is earns 5 stars in my opinion. Don't listen to the Yankee from Connecticut.

Rating:
Summary: I feel dumber for having read this book
Review: Now I've never been much of a thinkin' man. I'm just an honest, hard-working mountain boy with strong family roots, but I could swear as sure as I'm standing here that Mr. L'Amour's narration jumps from first person to third person without warning or explanation in Chapters 2 and 10. And his depiction of Native Americans is archaic, insulting, and dangerously one-dimensional.

Rating:
Summary: Tell Sackett rides again.
Review: Orrin Sackett's treacherous wife sends Tell Sackett on a false rescue mission. He and three of his drifter friends pursue the elusive Apache to save Orrin's kidnapped child.

This is a basic white men vs. Apache tale. There are plot twists the reader can easily see coming. The action is fast and violent. The writing is colorful. Tell Sackett's first person narrative rambles in places, but that adds to the Western aura. One can almost visualize Tell weaving engrossing tales to listeners around a crackling campfire. There is irony in men facing suffering and death because of loneliness and a woman's deceit. The "Lonely Men" of the title refers to the four men who band together because they have nothing else of meaning in their lives. The Apaches are portrayed as fierce killers, but also as honorable men who respect a worthy enemy.

Louis L'Amour instills new life into the familiar elements of the Western story. His novels and stories stress character and atmosphere over the routine plot elements of "a man, a horse, and a gun." As with many of his novels, this book serves the purpose of good, lightweight reading. It doesn't require in-depth analysis to get the point. Enjoy the ride. ;-)

Rating:
Summary: One bad puta
Review: Over the years I have read all, and posess all, of Louis L'Mour's books. Lonely men takes place in the Apache strong hold in the south west. Tell Sackett is persuaded by Orin Sackett's wife to go into the Apache strong hold to recaputure her son a five yr. old. Unknowing Tell tries to find his nephew (who does not exist)and his sister-in-law hopes the apaches kill him. this is a good story but it is not action packed all the time.

Rating:
Summary: One bad puta
Review: Over the years I have read all, and posess all, of Louis L'Mour's books. Lonely men takes place in the Apache strong hold in the south west. Tell Sackett is persuaded by Orin Sackett's wife to go into the Apache strong hold to recaputure her son a five yr. old. Unknowing Tell tries to find his nephew (who does not exist)and his sister-in-law hopes the apaches kill him. this is a good story but it is not action packed all the time.

Rating:
Summary: Master Ole West Storyteller
Review: Two features stand out about this book. One, human nature is the same now as it was in the old West. Two, like L'Amour I am fascinated with the era when the West was being explored and settled. The adventurers who carved civilization out of the wilderness were a commendable stock. Going back to the first feature, this book centers around a manipulative woman who is ruthless in the way she sets up other people for destruction. She plots the deaths of the lead character and 3 of his fellow cowpokes. The acknowledgment of bravery and mutual respect between Tell Sackett and Kahtenny, a leader of the Apaches is a secondary theme. In more than one espisode the two help each other even though they are techincally on opposing sides. This story helps demonstrate how there are various forms of knowledge. Tell Sackett talks of reading the desert like other people read books. Things such as tracks, flora, rock formations all have meaning for the astute observer. The weakness in this and other L'Amour books is the way he disregards the Christian way of life. His character saw it as something to be taken lightly. For Christians it is the only thing that gives meaning to life.

Rating:
Summary: TRY L'AMOUR THINK
Review: When it comes to reading Louis L'Amour the modern western fan is faced with having to take things in context. Remember that L'Amour's works were primarily written in the fifties and sixties and, as a result, have a certain "dignity" about them that no longer applies with the westerns of today, especially those on the big screen.

Take THE LONELY MEN for example. There is plenty of action here but it is painted much more subtly on L'Amour's canvass than, let's say, on those of Larry McMurtry or on Clint Eastwood's or Kevin Costner's movie screens. Frankly L'Amour or his readers would not have tolerated the raw, often harsh violence of today's western s offerings.

L'Amour wrote with a clear sense of nostalgia and romance about the west. He was much for the kindred spirit of John Wayne and John Ford than of McMurtry, Eastwood or Costner.

I thoroughly enjoyed THE LONELY MEN, a Sackett tale of revenge, deceit and, as is the case with all L'Amour tales, of ultimate white-hatted triumph and justice. Tell Sackett is tricked into a dangerous venture in Apache-held country. He and his friends find much more than they bargain for. Read it in the correct mindset and you have a masterpiece.

Douglas McAllister