Crossfire Trail

Rating:
Summary: Crossfire Trail: A True Western
Review: "Law was still largely a local matter". This quote is typical for this book, as the book is an action-packed, suspenseful western. L'Amour's purpose in writing this novel is to entertain the reader, and to give you a little feel of old America. He pulls this off with a depictive setting, varied characters, laid-back country accents, and lots of irony.
Rafe Caradec, a rough and rowdy man, who hold his word sacred, sets out to fulfill his promise to a deadman to save his ranch and his family. Caradec is accused of being crooked himself, but finds a way to overcome.
Through the setting, L'Amour is capable of putting the reader in a western, old-American frame-of-mind. "There was no trail through the tall grass but he one that mind could make, or the instinct of the cattle moving toward water...". The description of the setting throughout the novel is detailed and vivid to the mind.
"A big man with wide shoulders sat at a scarred mess table...". Characterization plays a key-role in the novel. Rafe Caradec is a big and dangerous man. He is contrasted against Bruce Barkow throughout the novel. Barkow is the crook of the story, in who comes to be defeated.
The plot in this story is really simplistic and flat. It's your common, everyday western. Being such, it's very predictable. As far as plot aspect goes, the novel is not very elaborate. But not to worry, the effectiveness of setting, characterization, and language make up for the ineffectiveness of the elements of plot.
The language in this book is easy-reading. L'Amour uses simple diction throughout the novel. "Me for the gold fields in Nevady". Laid-back country accents are also used. This helps pull of the western feel of the novel.
In conclusion, without giving it all away, that is the basics of Louis L'Amour's Crossfire Trail. This is truly a great western...now get to reading it!

Rating:
Summary: SUBTLY DIFFERENT FROM SELLECK'S MOVIE OFFERING
Review: "Law was still largely a local matter". This quote is typical for this book, as the book is an action-packed, suspenseful western. L'Amour's purpose in writing this novel is to entertain the reader, and to give you a little feel of old America. He pulls this off with a depictive setting, varied characters, laid-back country accents, and lots of irony.
Rafe Caradec, a rough and rowdy man, who hold his word sacred, sets out to fulfill his promise to a deadman to save his ranch and his family. Caradec is accused of being crooked himself, but finds a way to overcome.
Through the setting, L'Amour is capable of putting the reader in a western, old-American frame-of-mind. "There was no trail through the tall grass but he one that mind could make, or the instinct of the cattle moving toward water...". The description of the setting throughout the novel is detailed and vivid to the mind.
"A big man with wide shoulders sat at a scarred mess table...". Characterization plays a key-role in the novel. Rafe Caradec is a big and dangerous man. He is contrasted against Bruce Barkow throughout the novel. Barkow is the crook of the story, in who comes to be defeated.
The plot in this story is really simplistic and flat. It's your common, everyday western. Being such, it's very predictable. As far as plot aspect goes, the novel is not very elaborate. But not to worry, the effectiveness of setting, characterization, and language make up for the ineffectiveness of the elements of plot.
The language in this book is easy-reading. L'Amour uses simple diction throughout the novel. "Me for the gold fields in Nevady". Laid-back country accents are also used. This helps pull of the western feel of the novel.
In conclusion, without giving it all away, that is the basics of Louis L'Amour's Crossfire Trail. This is truly a great western...now get to reading it!

Rating:
Summary: Better than the TNT movie
Review: Hollywood does not do this book justice. Its a very good Louis L'Amour story. I am such a fan of his!! The story immediately starts out full of action and it is non stop action until it ends! Good read on a rainy day!

Rating:
Summary: Great but...
Review: I love Louis Lamour's novels soo much. This one was even special in comparison to a lot of others of his, however, it saddens me to not be able to give it a five star. I was enjoying the book immensely for most of its pages, but the last 20 pages was like a let down for some reason. If only it could have ended better, it would have been one of my favorites. So, I give it a bitter-sweet 4 star. But don't get me wrong, it is still very much worth reading. You gotta enoy Lamour :)

Rating:
Summary: Great but...
Review: I love Louis Lamour's novels soo much. This one was even special in comparison to a lot of others of his, however, it saddens me to not be able to give it a five star. I was enjoying the book immensely for most of its pages, but the last 20 pages was like a let down for some reason. If only it could have ended better, it would have been one of my favorites. So, I give it a bitter-sweet 4 star. But don't get me wrong, it is still very much worth reading. You gotta enoy Lamour :)

Rating:
Summary: Louis Lamour is always great fun.
Review: I'm not a western fan, but occasionally I do read Westerns for a change from my usual. And Louis Lamour is always a favorite. Not because of the tough and gritty "Howdy Pardner" kind of cowboy, but because I find him funny, his characters likeable, his books a quick read and an amazing escape from reality. Sometimes, too many of the books I read are too serious, or too dramatic, or too thought provoking, but Louis Lamour can be counted on for straight facts. There is always a bank robber, and always a person who "needed killin'" and always a damsel in distress or a least a damsel who catches the main character's eye. Kind of like a Harlequin for a break in serious realms, I always enjoy him.

Rating:
Summary: SUBTLY DIFFERENT FROM SELLECK'S MOVIE OFFERING
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 CROSSFIRE TRAIL 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 CROSSFIRE TRAIL, a tale of revenge, deceit and, as is the case with all L'Amour tales, of ultimate white-hatted triumph and justice. The fan of the movie of the same title, starring Tom Selleck, should note that there are some differences between the screenplay and the book. But all in all the story is the same and is just as enjoyable in print as the story told on the big screen. Read it in the correct mindset and you have a masterpiece.

Douglas McAllister