Appaloosa

 Parker, Robert B. (2005). Appaloosa. New York, NY: G.P. Putnam's Sons.

ISBN: 978-0425204320

Pages: 276

Annotation: Two lawmen must save a town from a corrupt rancher.

Summary: Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch are asked by the aldermen of Appaloosa to save their city from a corrupt rancher who has taken control of it. Cole is matchless as a gunman and Hitch is no beginner either. Through strategy and planning they manage to get the man on trial, but this only the beginning of their battle with him.

Evaluation: fair read

The characters in this story were interesting, but with the exception of the narrator Hitch, I could not connect with them. Cole, the main lawman, behaves irresponsibly. The female character, Alice, is someone who I found myself wondering why he had a relationship with her. The author provides an explanation which could seem plausible to other readers but seemed too unbelievable to me. Hitch was the one character I felt a connection with: not as irresponsible as Cole, loyal and I could understand his feelings and reactions to situations. The storyline was interesting because I wanted to find out how the relationships ended up and the fate of Appaloosa. Unfortunately, I was unhappy with the ending. Hitch’s final thought, and how the conflict with the rancher was resolved, was a letdown to me. I could see the point the author was trying to make but it seemed almost anticlimactic how things were finally resolved. The author does a good job of making me feel like I am in the ‘old West’, but would have been better with more details. This was a fair read to me, but fans of the genre may have a better reading experience.

What else to read:

Other books by Robert B. Parker.

Hondo by Louis L'Amour.

The Complete Western Stories of Elmore Leonard by Elmore Leonard.

The Day the Cowboys Quitby Elmer Kelton.