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Son of a Wanted Man
An outlaw's legacy...
In a remote corner of Utah lies the secret outlaw kingdom of Ben Curry. For fifteen years Curry has ruled supreme, as his men have pulled jobs from Canada to Mexico. But the king is getting old... he wants to turn his legacy over to someone younger, tougher. Mike Bastian is Ben's adopted son, a young man who can handle a knife, a gun, his fists, but a man who's never broken the law.
Now, as treachery explodes among Ben's riders, and two honest lawmen—Tyrel Sackett and Borden Chantry—begin to zero in on the gang, Mike must choose...between his loyalty to Ben and his yearning for a different life. Yet when the guns start echoing off the Vermilion Cliffs, the time for choosing is over—and the time for battle has begun.
In a remote corner of Utah lies the secret outlaw kingdom of Ben Curry. For fifteen years Curry has ruled supreme, as his men have pulled jobs from Canada to Mexico. But the king is getting old... he wants to turn his legacy over to someone younger, tougher. Mike Bastian is Ben's adopted son, a young man who can handle a knife, a gun, his fists, but a man who's never broken the law.
Now, as treachery explodes among Ben's riders, and two honest lawmen—Tyrel Sackett and Borden Chantry—begin to zero in on the gang, Mike must choose...between his loyalty to Ben and his yearning for a different life. Yet when the guns start echoing off the Vermilion Cliffs, the time for choosing is over—and the time for battle has begun.
161 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 1, 1984
224 people are currently reading
835 people want to read
About the author
Louis L'Amour
995 books3,469 followersLouis Dearborn L'Amour was an American novelist and short story writer. His books consisted primarily of Western novels, though he called his work "frontier stories". His most widely known Western fiction works include Last of the Breed, Hondo, Shalako, and the Sackett series. L'Amour also wrote historical fiction (The Walking Drum), science fiction (The Haunted Mesa), non-fiction (Frontier), and poetry and short-story collections. Many of his stories were made into films. His books remain popular and most have gone through multiple printings. At the time of his death, almost all of his 105 existing works (89 novels, 14 short-story collections, and two full-length works of nonfiction) were still in print, and he was "one of the world's most popular writers".
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 124 reviews
July 18, 2023
"I think there's going to be a lot goin' on. Something can happen whenever there's a gold shipment, a payroll, or a bank that looks easy. [The organized desperadoes] have been quiet all winter, so I think they'll be looking for a big one." -- Sheriff Borden Chantry to his deputy, on page 104
Son of a Wanted Man (which my mind keeps misremembering as 'Son of a Preacher Man,' although this book has absolutely no connection to that fifty-five year-old soulful Dusty Springfield tune) is late period L'Amour, penned only five years before his death at age eighty. While it was good it was also sort of an admittedly thin and predictable storyline - most of the page time is given to young Mike Bastian, who was raised by an outlaw boss named Curry, as he reaches a crossroads dilemma on whether or not to give in to the easy lure of frontier-style thug life. Of more interest to me were the two laconic lawmen - Sheriff Borden Chantry and Marshal Tyrel Sackett (both have been featured in previous L'Amour works) - who team up to track down leads on a likely impending robbery and attempt to keep the peace in Chantry's quiet Colorado bailiwick. Unfortunately, they're relegated to a mostly supporting role type of status but acquit themselves nicely in the best and most suspenseful scene late in the narrative, in which townspeople rally to offer them assistance when a unscrupulous faction of the Curry gang materializes as suspected to execute a heist.
Son of a Wanted Man (which my mind keeps misremembering as 'Son of a Preacher Man,' although this book has absolutely no connection to that fifty-five year-old soulful Dusty Springfield tune) is late period L'Amour, penned only five years before his death at age eighty. While it was good it was also sort of an admittedly thin and predictable storyline - most of the page time is given to young Mike Bastian, who was raised by an outlaw boss named Curry, as he reaches a crossroads dilemma on whether or not to give in to the easy lure of frontier-style thug life. Of more interest to me were the two laconic lawmen - Sheriff Borden Chantry and Marshal Tyrel Sackett (both have been featured in previous L'Amour works) - who team up to track down leads on a likely impending robbery and attempt to keep the peace in Chantry's quiet Colorado bailiwick. Unfortunately, they're relegated to a mostly supporting role type of status but acquit themselves nicely in the best and most suspenseful scene late in the narrative, in which townspeople rally to offer them assistance when a unscrupulous faction of the Curry gang materializes as suspected to execute a heist.
March 4, 2022
This was a pretty fun book, but the best part about it is that it led me to read Borden Chantry, which I totally loved. Now I need to reread this one to more fully appreciate the ways it ties up to Chantry :-)
Also, Ben Curry totally reminded me of Ben Wade in 3:10 to Yuma (1957), and I love Ben Wade, so that was fun.
Also, Ben Curry totally reminded me of Ben Wade in 3:10 to Yuma (1957), and I love Ben Wade, so that was fun.
January 9, 2025
A rollicking good time!
The story was well done and questions for thought fit perfectly into the plot.
The author also slipped in historical details, which was pretty interesting!
Qualms? The romance. It seemed a little too hard, too fast. I liked them both! But I didn’t understand why they weren't just attracted to each other the first time they met, instead of already gone 'in love', and let it grow from there the second time. They'd known each other all of 40ish hours when they planned their future together.
I also wish the themes had been explored a bit more!
Still quite good. I'm excited to read more from L'Amour!
CW: Swearing
The story was well done and questions for thought fit perfectly into the plot.
The author also slipped in historical details, which was pretty interesting!
Qualms? The romance. It seemed a little too hard, too fast. I liked them both! But I didn’t understand why they weren't just attracted to each other the first time they met, instead of already gone 'in love', and let it grow from there the second time. They'd known each other all of 40ish hours when they planned their future together.
I also wish the themes had been explored a bit more!
Still quite good. I'm excited to read more from L'Amour!
CW: Swearing
July 1, 2024
My second Western read and I thought it was great!
June 5, 2011
This book seemed like it had too much set-up and too little payoff. L'Amour builds up this great, almost super-human young man, then doesn't have enough for him to do.
December 8, 2020
Mike Bastian is the son of a man who runs an outlaw gang that operates in Colorado and Utah. He tries to lead a different lfe from his father and brothers. The characters of Borden Chantry and Tyrel Sackett figure in the story as marshals. This is up to the usual L"Amour high standard.
August 6, 2017
SON OF A WANTED MAN was my first L'Amour novel. I first came across it several years ago while on vacation with my parents. I read what felt like most of it then took the book home from the cabin we had rented and proceeded to never finish the novel.
Then a few weeks ago, I decided to read the whole thing again, just to mark it off my bucket list.
And now I can say I have, if nothing more.
Overall, I liked WANTED MAN. It was no masterwork, but it was an easy and mostly enjoyable read. L'Amour does tend to have a neat writing style; he states things plain and simple. I also found that more often than not he wrote his conversation scenes like a screenplay mostly including only the dialogue and nothing else.
L'Amour started his novel quite well. He introduced several interesting characters and by the time you reached the end of the first chapter, you had the entire set up laid before you. L'Amour wasted no time, and I appreciated that. The action began to mount in a logical way, as the suspense built and we approached what felt like the climax. Then I realized I was only halfway through the book, and that's where all the problems began.
See, once we reached what should have been the climax, L'Amour began to switch back to characters who had barely been in the novel, he even introduced characters over halfway through the novel (which is less than 200 pages - pretty short) who had only been previously mentioned in a conversation up to that point. For me, this felt awkward and made the dragged-out third act feel overstuffed, with too many characters and too many events happening all at once.
As far as the events of the actual third act, there was much to be desired. Three main events took place in what would be considered the climax, and the reader is witness to two of them. This makes sense on a certain level, because it creates suspense about who survives the third showdown. So, here L'Amour's choices make sense.
What does not make sense however, is L'Amour's choice to have us spend lots of time with the protagonist chasing a villain, then switch and spend several chapters with the Sheriff investigating a gang and eventually stopping a bank robbery via a shootout (which was anti-climatic in its own right), then switch back to the protagonist fighting the villain in a very quick and anti-climatic way. This just feels boring to read and is a definite let-down.
My final issue with the book was the romance aspect. The supposed feelings between Mike (the protagonist) and Drucilla (a somewhat minor character) didn't feel natural. Everything about it felt forced and only really there to serve as a plot device and motivation for the main character's actions. I could understand adding female characters, it makes total sense. But when the 'romantic interest' and protagonist have only one brief meeting before he decides to risk everything to save her, it falls flat on its face. L'Amour even give secondary and much more believable motivations to Mike's actions in the third act, so why not just leave out the romance or simply hint at budding emotions instead of using them so heavily when they're so underdeveloped?
All this is not to say WANTED MAN was only full of let-downs and poor pacing. No, there was a good bit to be admired. As I said before, L'Amour has a nice writing style and from what I've read, so pretty good books too. There were nice motifs about modern technology such as trains and telegrams throughout the novel, as well as an interesting cast of characters. Of course the central moral dilemma was also compelling and was a good driving force for the story.
So, in the end while SON OF A WANTED MAN is an uneven book that leaves a bit more to be desired and a slightly burn taste in your mouth, it's a book that is not a terrible journey and you won't mind having taken.
Then a few weeks ago, I decided to read the whole thing again, just to mark it off my bucket list.
And now I can say I have, if nothing more.
Overall, I liked WANTED MAN. It was no masterwork, but it was an easy and mostly enjoyable read. L'Amour does tend to have a neat writing style; he states things plain and simple. I also found that more often than not he wrote his conversation scenes like a screenplay mostly including only the dialogue and nothing else.
L'Amour started his novel quite well. He introduced several interesting characters and by the time you reached the end of the first chapter, you had the entire set up laid before you. L'Amour wasted no time, and I appreciated that. The action began to mount in a logical way, as the suspense built and we approached what felt like the climax. Then I realized I was only halfway through the book, and that's where all the problems began.
See, once we reached what should have been the climax, L'Amour began to switch back to characters who had barely been in the novel, he even introduced characters over halfway through the novel (which is less than 200 pages - pretty short) who had only been previously mentioned in a conversation up to that point. For me, this felt awkward and made the dragged-out third act feel overstuffed, with too many characters and too many events happening all at once.
As far as the events of the actual third act, there was much to be desired. Three main events took place in what would be considered the climax, and the reader is witness to two of them. This makes sense on a certain level, because it creates suspense about who survives the third showdown. So, here L'Amour's choices make sense.
What does not make sense however, is L'Amour's choice to have us spend lots of time with the protagonist chasing a villain, then switch and spend several chapters with the Sheriff investigating a gang and eventually stopping a bank robbery via a shootout (which was anti-climatic in its own right), then switch back to the protagonist fighting the villain in a very quick and anti-climatic way. This just feels boring to read and is a definite let-down.
My final issue with the book was the romance aspect. The supposed feelings between Mike (the protagonist) and Drucilla (a somewhat minor character) didn't feel natural. Everything about it felt forced and only really there to serve as a plot device and motivation for the main character's actions. I could understand adding female characters, it makes total sense. But when the 'romantic interest' and protagonist have only one brief meeting before he decides to risk everything to save her, it falls flat on its face. L'Amour even give secondary and much more believable motivations to Mike's actions in the third act, so why not just leave out the romance or simply hint at budding emotions instead of using them so heavily when they're so underdeveloped?
All this is not to say WANTED MAN was only full of let-downs and poor pacing. No, there was a good bit to be admired. As I said before, L'Amour has a nice writing style and from what I've read, so pretty good books too. There were nice motifs about modern technology such as trains and telegrams throughout the novel, as well as an interesting cast of characters. Of course the central moral dilemma was also compelling and was a good driving force for the story.
So, in the end while SON OF A WANTED MAN is an uneven book that leaves a bit more to be desired and a slightly burn taste in your mouth, it's a book that is not a terrible journey and you won't mind having taken.
January 27, 2019
Another great story provided from the great mind of Louis L'Amour. He provided great insight to another side of the Western frontier, outlaws. I quite enjoyed this idea as most of L'Amours stories are about drifters, gunslingers or loners, and I find the usage of a character on the "bad" side of the law a good break from the format.
Mike Bastian is the foster son to the greatest outlaw empire in the US, Ben Curry. The reason for the gang's success is the lack of bragging about their victories, their names unknown to the law. Shooting not allowed, deaths from their thieving were unheard of. However, Ben is getting old and he expects Mike to take up his mantle and guide the gang of outlaws. Though many of the rough outlaws are not wanting a young, "inexperienced" 22-year-old leading them. So Mike is faced with two choices, take up his father's mantle and break the law for the first time and face the threat of being shot out by the law and his own, or break away from the gang and face his foster father, the quickest draw in the West.
I also liked the introduction of Tyrel Sackett (appeared in "The Daybreakers" and briefly in "Borden Chantry") and Marshal Borden Chantry, as I've read their stories before this one. However, the downside to this is, the only things they did in the story was investigate Ben Curry's boys and stopped a town robbery. Besides that, they had no connection to the actual gang or Mike Bastian's story, so I wonder if it was really necessary to introduce them in this story, besides to give a little squeal to the fans reading previous novels.
Overall, I liked the story as it explored more of the Western frontier. It was unpredictable unlike a few other stories I've read, so it was always a surprise to me as I continued reading. And if there's a lesson, I would say it's one of these two, just because you're outlaw doesn't mean you're a bad man or sometimes you have to fight to survive.
Mike Bastian is the foster son to the greatest outlaw empire in the US, Ben Curry. The reason for the gang's success is the lack of bragging about their victories, their names unknown to the law. Shooting not allowed, deaths from their thieving were unheard of. However, Ben is getting old and he expects Mike to take up his mantle and guide the gang of outlaws. Though many of the rough outlaws are not wanting a young, "inexperienced" 22-year-old leading them. So Mike is faced with two choices, take up his father's mantle and break the law for the first time and face the threat of being shot out by the law and his own, or break away from the gang and face his foster father, the quickest draw in the West.
I also liked the introduction of Tyrel Sackett (appeared in "The Daybreakers" and briefly in "Borden Chantry") and Marshal Borden Chantry, as I've read their stories before this one. However, the downside to this is, the only things they did in the story was investigate Ben Curry's boys and stopped a town robbery. Besides that, they had no connection to the actual gang or Mike Bastian's story, so I wonder if it was really necessary to introduce them in this story, besides to give a little squeal to the fans reading previous novels.
Overall, I liked the story as it explored more of the Western frontier. It was unpredictable unlike a few other stories I've read, so it was always a surprise to me as I continued reading. And if there's a lesson, I would say it's one of these two, just because you're outlaw doesn't mean you're a bad man or sometimes you have to fight to survive.
May 21, 2018
Son of A Wanted man is about a young man named Mike Bastian. He lives in an isolated corner of Utah where the man that adopted him, Ben Curry, has a very successful cattle ranch. Being raised by outlaws Mike is good with a gun and a rough and tough guy but he has never broken the law. When the cattle ranch is soon to become his, two sheriffs move in the shut the band of outlaws down. Now Mike must choose whether or not to become the outlaw leader he was raised to be, or to keep his hands clean as a good law abiding man. With time crunching down he must make his choice fast or find himself in the middle of a very sticky situation. I thought the book was a very good read. My favorite part of the story was when the ranch was offered down to Mike. This is when the book started getting very suspenseful. I felt as though he was destined to take the leader position but at the same time you could tell that he did not want to become an outlaw. He also had a girl on his mind and had other members of the gang that wanted the gang to themselves. You really could not tell what was going to happen next. If i had to pick my least favorite part it would have to be the ending. It really did not end how I felt it was going to. All in all this is yet another book I would recommend to western fans and also fans of suspenseful books.
November 11, 2025
3.5 stars rounding up
It was a solid Western that did end up reminding me a lot of Red Dead Redemption (I wonder if the writers of the game ever read L'Amour?), but I do agree with a lot of the reviews which say that the setup took up way too much of the book, with most of the action being crammed in the last third with a very quickly rushed through falling action and hardly any time spent on the resolution. I think another hundred or so pages could have really done the story justice and felt more fulfilling for the reader. As it stands, there's no real "what's going to happen next?" for these characters in the wrap up.
It was a solid Western that did end up reminding me a lot of Red Dead Redemption (I wonder if the writers of the game ever read L'Amour?), but I do agree with a lot of the reviews which say that the setup took up way too much of the book, with most of the action being crammed in the last third with a very quickly rushed through falling action and hardly any time spent on the resolution. I think another hundred or so pages could have really done the story justice and felt more fulfilling for the reader. As it stands, there's no real "what's going to happen next?" for these characters in the wrap up.
May 8, 2024
the third l'amour book i've had to read for work and i'm getting brainwashed into enjoying them a bit at this point. they remind me of when i used to read the entire little house on the prairie series repeatedly until i was ten.
December 16, 2021
This novel was pretty standard fare, and I was enjoying it for the most part, but the ending was too contrite and rushed. 2.5*
June 29, 2022
This is a awesome read
December 20, 2023
Very few wasted words
June 19, 2024
My first Louis L’amour and I enjoyed the cowboy world. Just wasn’t anything special.
March 3, 2011
I enjoyed this story. I have never been let down by a L'Amour book and once again I was entertained from start to finish. There are better L'Amour stories out there, but I listened to this one on Audio CD and within the quick three hours of audio a complete Western story was told. A bonus to this Aduio CD was Mr. L'Amour himself telling several Western tales that he was directly or indirectly involved with.
October 20, 2017
An entertaining read although the ending was a bit anticlimactic. Ben Curry runs an outlaw network where he plans everything to the last detail and avoids killing people. However, he is getting old and wants to retire leaving his gang to Mike Bastian his adopted son who does not want to be an outlaw. The plot revolves around the gang falling apart and Border Chantry protecting the bank in his town where he is Marshall. There is s big shoot out but the ending could have been better.
November 23, 2017
I was very surprised by this book - I've read almost 20 of Louis L'Amour books and loved them all. But not this one! It seemed to drag badly in the first 1/3 and once the real story got going the layers of descriptions (which I usually love) seemed to go on and on and seemed to repeat over and over. Sorry ... but no thanks. :(
November 5, 2012
I think this book is an alright one. It is predictable and the good guys are pretty much invincible.I always thought something big was about to happen but nothing ever did. It didn't describe certain things very well either. All in all though it had a good story.
July 24, 2015
Not quite up to L'Amour's usual good writing. The set up is not well done and the smitten lovers react to quickly. Still enough action to keep things interesting. Fair, not really good. Recommended only to L'Amour Fans.
July 4, 2017
Not one of L'Amour's best, as I found the writing quite pedestrian. There were some GREAT characters, however, and Ben Curry totally, totally reminded me of how Ben Wade would be in his later days (provided he did escape from Yuma).
November 13, 2010
Not really one of the better L'Amours. It's too short to show off his skills as a storyteller, so the whole thing feels a little stiff and awkward.
October 11, 2012
Fun read. Fairly short. Entertaining picture of the wild west. Writing seemed a little rushed in places. Interesting characters. I think it would work better as a movie.
December 2, 2013
I like all of L'Amour's books and this was an enjoyable read, but not exceptional.
August 3, 2016
Not much for westerns, but this short novel was pretty good. The description of the setting was my favorite part. L'Amour definitely brings you into his world.
September 8, 2019
goodread...
November 29, 2018
In my humble opinion, this book was a good start to be introduced into the authors book style and has a very good plot, and should receive 4.4 out of 5 stars. My three main reasons for this rating is because the use of higher level vocabulary,the way the characters develop, and the consistent attention grabbing parts of the story.
If I were to rate just the first ⅓ of the book, I would give that part 3.8 out of 5 stars mostly because I was still getting used to the characters. The characters are very immersive. They make you care for what happens to them, even if they aren’t real. The way they think is usually what you’re thinking, making you feel connected to them somehow. The way the author tells the story was different from most authors. It used techniques that put the reader in a situation, where if they stopped reading, it would make them feel like they were missing the story, even if you could go back and read it, constant action. It was clearly described what was happening by describing where the story was and how it was happening throughout the entire story. The readers are effectively introduced to the main conflict, the main character Mike Bastion not wanting anything to do with his fathers bad image. We instantly understood how MIke was feeling by letting us know what kind of things his dad was situated with. And my favorite part of this section was when Mike told his dad straight to his face that he didn’t care to see him again because his dad wouldn’t stop doing the bad things he was already doing.
For the second 1/3 of the book, I would rate it 5 out of 5 stars mostly because it jumps right into the action of Mike's dad wanting him brought to him dead or alive. In this middle section of the book, Mike’s dad sends goon to find him, so Mike has to escape and go into hiding because his dad is the leader of his organization and can basically get whatever he wants done. The characters are not really changing at this point in the story except you see the true colors of the father which you know has made poor decisions in his life but now you finally see him make even more of those decisions. The way the author tells the story was intriguing his narrative techniques consisted of him explaining the setting, which was in the late 1800. Also the author explaining the plot through the eyes of an all knowing person. And my favorite part of this section was when Mike learned that his dad ‘Curry’ was not his actual dad, just a person who adopted him because it explained why his dad would not have to think twice about killing him, since he is not even related .
Finally, in the last ⅓ of the book, I would give it a 3.8 out of 5 stars simply because it started to get a little lacking in logic. When I get towards the end of a book, I expect the author to explain a little more but this author started to explain less as the story went on to let the reader imagined what was happening, but it wasn’t executed in the best way. He foreshadowed a lot in this part of the book slightly ruining some of it. In the end, the main character Mike Bastion changes in the sense that he doesn’t want to run from his dad anymore and wants to meet him face to face to end things for good, and it was quite surprising for the most part. My favorite part of this ending was that Mike killed his father. If I could change one thing about the way the author ended this book it would be to let the dad live, and torture him because then the reader would have felt the revenge for all the trouble he caused.
After reading this book, I have grown as a reader because now I can expect to read certain things in books that I might have not been able to understand before. It is clear that the author is trying to send a message with his book as well, and I believe that message is that you can never want something so much, because if you want it and don’t get it, nothing will happen. I agree with this message because it actually makes you think that maybe you should do something that really means alot to you. In conclusion, I would recommend this book for my peers.
If I were to rate just the first ⅓ of the book, I would give that part 3.8 out of 5 stars mostly because I was still getting used to the characters. The characters are very immersive. They make you care for what happens to them, even if they aren’t real. The way they think is usually what you’re thinking, making you feel connected to them somehow. The way the author tells the story was different from most authors. It used techniques that put the reader in a situation, where if they stopped reading, it would make them feel like they were missing the story, even if you could go back and read it, constant action. It was clearly described what was happening by describing where the story was and how it was happening throughout the entire story. The readers are effectively introduced to the main conflict, the main character Mike Bastion not wanting anything to do with his fathers bad image. We instantly understood how MIke was feeling by letting us know what kind of things his dad was situated with. And my favorite part of this section was when Mike told his dad straight to his face that he didn’t care to see him again because his dad wouldn’t stop doing the bad things he was already doing.
For the second 1/3 of the book, I would rate it 5 out of 5 stars mostly because it jumps right into the action of Mike's dad wanting him brought to him dead or alive. In this middle section of the book, Mike’s dad sends goon to find him, so Mike has to escape and go into hiding because his dad is the leader of his organization and can basically get whatever he wants done. The characters are not really changing at this point in the story except you see the true colors of the father which you know has made poor decisions in his life but now you finally see him make even more of those decisions. The way the author tells the story was intriguing his narrative techniques consisted of him explaining the setting, which was in the late 1800. Also the author explaining the plot through the eyes of an all knowing person. And my favorite part of this section was when Mike learned that his dad ‘Curry’ was not his actual dad, just a person who adopted him because it explained why his dad would not have to think twice about killing him, since he is not even related .
Finally, in the last ⅓ of the book, I would give it a 3.8 out of 5 stars simply because it started to get a little lacking in logic. When I get towards the end of a book, I expect the author to explain a little more but this author started to explain less as the story went on to let the reader imagined what was happening, but it wasn’t executed in the best way. He foreshadowed a lot in this part of the book slightly ruining some of it. In the end, the main character Mike Bastion changes in the sense that he doesn’t want to run from his dad anymore and wants to meet him face to face to end things for good, and it was quite surprising for the most part. My favorite part of this ending was that Mike killed his father. If I could change one thing about the way the author ended this book it would be to let the dad live, and torture him because then the reader would have felt the revenge for all the trouble he caused.
After reading this book, I have grown as a reader because now I can expect to read certain things in books that I might have not been able to understand before. It is clear that the author is trying to send a message with his book as well, and I believe that message is that you can never want something so much, because if you want it and don’t get it, nothing will happen. I agree with this message because it actually makes you think that maybe you should do something that really means alot to you. In conclusion, I would recommend this book for my peers.
December 24, 2024
I was in the Albuquerque airport and needed a book to read. The whole place was under construction so there weren’t many stores open to scrounge for a book. But, right across from my gate was an open little kiosk kind of thing that had a small book rack. This book was the only thing that caught my eye.
It’s a nice read. But, it definitely had a somewhat odd feeling to it. Like an odd combination of something that should be a radio drama or a short story or one of those magazine stories. As in, sometimes the dialogue just didn’t read right….consider, page 19:
Roundy: Tyrel Sackett is that gunfighter who was in that land grant fight. He’s hell on wheels.
Ben: I never heard of him. Anyway, he was in Santa Fe. I made sure of that.
Huh? How can you never have heard of him and yet make sure that he’s in Santa Fe?
There a good handful of moments like that which felt like something was missing. Like, maybe, a small story has been expanded or a big story got chopped down to fit a smaller format. Or, like maybe we were have supposed to have seen something (i.e. made for TV but now a small paperback).
But, interestingly, it comes with 52 pages of bonus material at the end which was very compelling and explained a lot. This bonus material was written by Louis L’aMour son. He goes into some depth of the history of his father’s writing. Especially focusing on his career transitions. Turns out his father was a pioneer of audio books being sold at truck stops.
The history of his father’s story telling is an adventure in dealing with putting out a story subject to the many production constraints of different media. And about the business of being a working author. For instance, early audio books needed to fit on a cassette. So instead of being simply a reading of the book by one person, they were dramas voice acted by a variety of people. Which could be greatly abridged. Later, as CD’s became available the entire book could be simply read out loud.
Also, a lot of his father’s early writing were “magazine novellas”. Not a short story, but also not a novel. But as that medium disappeared, he had to transition to a more novel-like format.
That’s how this book came to be. It was written as a different story, much shorter, for a magazine in 1948. Then later re-written as this novel in 1983.
The story is a three star effort. Well worth reading, but, temper your expectations.
The bonus material was really interesting…netting this book a fourth star.
It’s a nice read. But, it definitely had a somewhat odd feeling to it. Like an odd combination of something that should be a radio drama or a short story or one of those magazine stories. As in, sometimes the dialogue just didn’t read right….consider, page 19:
Roundy: Tyrel Sackett is that gunfighter who was in that land grant fight. He’s hell on wheels.
Ben: I never heard of him. Anyway, he was in Santa Fe. I made sure of that.
Huh? How can you never have heard of him and yet make sure that he’s in Santa Fe?
There a good handful of moments like that which felt like something was missing. Like, maybe, a small story has been expanded or a big story got chopped down to fit a smaller format. Or, like maybe we were have supposed to have seen something (i.e. made for TV but now a small paperback).
But, interestingly, it comes with 52 pages of bonus material at the end which was very compelling and explained a lot. This bonus material was written by Louis L’aMour son. He goes into some depth of the history of his father’s writing. Especially focusing on his career transitions. Turns out his father was a pioneer of audio books being sold at truck stops.
The history of his father’s story telling is an adventure in dealing with putting out a story subject to the many production constraints of different media. And about the business of being a working author. For instance, early audio books needed to fit on a cassette. So instead of being simply a reading of the book by one person, they were dramas voice acted by a variety of people. Which could be greatly abridged. Later, as CD’s became available the entire book could be simply read out loud.
Also, a lot of his father’s early writing were “magazine novellas”. Not a short story, but also not a novel. But as that medium disappeared, he had to transition to a more novel-like format.
That’s how this book came to be. It was written as a different story, much shorter, for a magazine in 1948. Then later re-written as this novel in 1983.
The story is a three star effort. Well worth reading, but, temper your expectations.
The bonus material was really interesting…netting this book a fourth star.
September 18, 2017
Son of a Wanted Man by Louis L’amour
The main characters of this book is Mike Bastian, Ben Curry, and Kerb Perrin and so much more. These guys are all outlaws besides some of them. They all talked before and have backgrounds but they don’t really like each other. The one group of people found out that there has been a lot of robberies but no one was shot. They found out that they wanted to find them and find out who it was. They robbed lots of states but not this one state so they went there. Later they wanted to find this one guy Kerb Perrin and they sent out to find him and fight him but then there was a fight back where they were. They killed the people that hate and after that had a good time.
I liked the book but it was kind of hard to follow along with it. I would read it then get lost where they were. I didn’t really like the plot because it was really hard to follow but it was really good and fun to read about old days and how they lived and how they track people and things. Plus it is nice to know how people lived out in the old days and how they lived back when we first started to build our country and buildings. In the book it says, “Had they gone down that? He knelt on the rock. Yes, it was the scar of a horse’s shoe on the rock.” (Pg 158 Lamour, Son of a Wanted Man) That is showing that he was a tracker and found out how to track out in the wild and find people even if you lose the trail.
So I have always loved to be outdoors and loved to learn about how people lived back in the old day and how they survived and compare it to my life. I have always wanted to be a farmer and work and shoot guns and be in the middle of nowhere and just have some fun. I can’t do that anymore because houses are being built and there is no where else to go. This book reminds me of movie I have watched and talked about. One movie is called The Outlaw of Josey Wales and it is about some outlaws and how they survived and how people tracked just like this book was about. Nowadays people don’t even know what farming is and how people lived back then we all have electronics and don’t even care about how we lived back then. I don’t like how that is but that is how this world is and how we live today. That is what I think of the book Son of a Wanted Man by Louis L’amour you should read it and see what you think.
The main characters of this book is Mike Bastian, Ben Curry, and Kerb Perrin and so much more. These guys are all outlaws besides some of them. They all talked before and have backgrounds but they don’t really like each other. The one group of people found out that there has been a lot of robberies but no one was shot. They found out that they wanted to find them and find out who it was. They robbed lots of states but not this one state so they went there. Later they wanted to find this one guy Kerb Perrin and they sent out to find him and fight him but then there was a fight back where they were. They killed the people that hate and after that had a good time.
I liked the book but it was kind of hard to follow along with it. I would read it then get lost where they were. I didn’t really like the plot because it was really hard to follow but it was really good and fun to read about old days and how they lived and how they track people and things. Plus it is nice to know how people lived out in the old days and how they lived back when we first started to build our country and buildings. In the book it says, “Had they gone down that? He knelt on the rock. Yes, it was the scar of a horse’s shoe on the rock.” (Pg 158 Lamour, Son of a Wanted Man) That is showing that he was a tracker and found out how to track out in the wild and find people even if you lose the trail.
So I have always loved to be outdoors and loved to learn about how people lived back in the old day and how they survived and compare it to my life. I have always wanted to be a farmer and work and shoot guns and be in the middle of nowhere and just have some fun. I can’t do that anymore because houses are being built and there is no where else to go. This book reminds me of movie I have watched and talked about. One movie is called The Outlaw of Josey Wales and it is about some outlaws and how they survived and how people tracked just like this book was about. Nowadays people don’t even know what farming is and how people lived back then we all have electronics and don’t even care about how we lived back then. I don’t like how that is but that is how this world is and how we live today. That is what I think of the book Son of a Wanted Man by Louis L’amour you should read it and see what you think.
August 13, 2017
I have read some of the other reviews that have been written about this book and I think I am going to have to disagree with the ones saying Drusilla is a minor character. Yes she isn't introduced until the last half to third of the story but she makes an appearance and stays part of the story from then to the end. Most people today don't understand that in the American West there wasn't a lot of time for courting a partner. There was work to be don't and most of the time that work required sevens days a week. Now sometimes there was time to go to church on Sunday and there was occasionally a dance or a box social if there was a town near enough ride in a day's time. So people fell in love quickly and they usually married quickly.
Mike Bastian has been training to take over his adopted father's, Ben Curry, outlaw organization most of his life. Now that he is old enough he knows that he is not going to be able to do the job. He isn't an outlaw and has no desire to be one. However troubling is brewing and Mike has to help his father out of the trouble. Add into this mix of brewing rebellion is the arrival of Ben's family that no one knows about. There is a plot to raid the ranch that the family is staying out and Mike must get there to save the women and the cattle. it is a race against time.
I understand that there are those that would have liked for this story to be longer but I am sure there was a limit on the number of words and publisher would consider. I don't think that many people that knows this. Having talk to a number of author that are currently writing I know this to still be true. I think that Louis L'Amour found these limitation difficult to abided by. His longer books are always much more detail and complicated that the earlier short ones. It is too bad that he died when he did. I think that he might have gotten the publishers to give him more lead way later in the twentieth century. I enjoyed this story as I have with all the others I have read and I am a little sad that this is the last of the Chantry/Talon/Sackett books.
Mike Bastian has been training to take over his adopted father's, Ben Curry, outlaw organization most of his life. Now that he is old enough he knows that he is not going to be able to do the job. He isn't an outlaw and has no desire to be one. However troubling is brewing and Mike has to help his father out of the trouble. Add into this mix of brewing rebellion is the arrival of Ben's family that no one knows about. There is a plot to raid the ranch that the family is staying out and Mike must get there to save the women and the cattle. it is a race against time.
I understand that there are those that would have liked for this story to be longer but I am sure there was a limit on the number of words and publisher would consider. I don't think that many people that knows this. Having talk to a number of author that are currently writing I know this to still be true. I think that Louis L'Amour found these limitation difficult to abided by. His longer books are always much more detail and complicated that the earlier short ones. It is too bad that he died when he did. I think that he might have gotten the publishers to give him more lead way later in the twentieth century. I enjoyed this story as I have with all the others I have read and I am a little sad that this is the last of the Chantry/Talon/Sackett books.
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