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Book Cover |
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Excerpt |
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Lockland's
Store
Two
punchers came up the steps and into the store, and Goodlove pointed to
the body and said, "We'll take Red along, boys. Carry him gentle."
They
advanced on Travis, shoulders touching, and at the last step split and
went around him, the wild anger riding high in their faces, but the
presence and his right hand holding them down.
"Inquest
at nine tomorrow, Doctor?" Travis asked.
"Yes," Doctor Stevens said.
"Agreeable, Judge?"
"Nine," Judge Clark said.
"Courthouse. You have the witnesses, Marshal?"
"They'll
be present," Travis said. "All right, Goodlove. There's nothing more we
can do tonight. The street is closed."
He
felt the words coming, the outburst that was certain to fall upon them
all. Goodlove backed deliberately toward the door and stopped there, big
and bent and gray. "Everything nice and legal! It won't settle with
me, Travis, not this time. I'll see you again, late this summer.
I'll come back down the trail with the biggest crew this god-forsaken
town ever saw. We'll ride into your town on our way home, and then
we'll wipe this town off the map."
"I'll
be here," Travis said.
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Synopsis |
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Travis
is sheriff of a small town. When one of Goodlove's men is shot in
Lockland's store, but is found to have been the instigator, Goodlove
swears to come back and take care of business after he sells his herd. Sam Thompson is Goodlove's right-hand man. Here are two
witnesses to the shooting, Mexican Joe and Lea Ferguson, a young lady.
Both testify, for some reason, that they didn't not see anything.
Everyone can tell that they are both lying. After the hearing, Mexican
Joe takes it on the lamb knowing that Thompson has stayed behind, after Goodlove has left, to kill him for what he saw. Johnny Cork, a young
bronco buster, is in love with Lea, and has to try to raise enough money
to buy a piece of land on so that he can support her, but she doesn't
want anything to do with him.
Travis starts hunting for both Mexican Joe
and Thompson, hoping to find Thompson before Thompson finds Mexican Joe.
All this while Travis wants to retire and start farming himself.
Violence at Sundown
is a western story by Frank O'Rourke about a man who wants to get out of law enforcement
and settle down, but is trapped by a good situation gone bad. He is man
that does things by the book. He is patient, wary and smart. The story
revolves around a few characters, but mostly focuses on Travis.
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Review |
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This
is a good story. I did like this story, but never really got deeply
involved in it. The characters are all very well written, and quite
believable. But I got a little lost at the beginning with who was who
and who did what. But this all worked out later as I read on. The main
problem that I had with this story is that it was incredibly slow for
more than the first half of the book.
Only when Travis started hunting
for Thompson and Mexican Joe did it get more interesting for me. This is
a story about people, rather than and action western. Me…I prefer a
little more conflict, which of course, generally leads to more action.
Travis is an
interesting character, and probably more realistic than the main
characters in Louis L'Amour books. But does that mean that this is a
better story. I don't think so. I like the rough, tough men in
L'Amour's books. Travis is more real, and therefore, more fallible.
But this is a good story told in an old-fashioned manner, which fits
with the time that it was written . . . 1953.
So, if you'd like to sit
down to a story about the Old West that was written almost half a
century ago, when the Old West wasn't all that long ago, pick up a copy
of Violence at Sundown. You'll probably have to find it at a used book story, since it
isn't being published anymore.
I
rated this book a 6 out of 10. |
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