The Lonely Men : The Sacketts (Sacketts)

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: 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