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The Quick and the Dead

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When Duncan McKaskel decided to move his family west, he knew he would face dangers, and he was prepared for them. He knew about the exhausting terrain, and he was expecting the punishing elements. What he worried about was having to use violence against other men—men who would follow him and try to steal the riches that he didn’t even possess.

Yet bandits were only part of McKaskel’s worries. For a mysterious stranger, Con Vallian, had appeared one night and saved his life. But was Vallian’s true interest Duncan’s wife, Susanna? And, more important, how did she feel about him?

As they push on into the wilderness, Duncan must discover who is the greater threat—the thieves outside his camp or the enigmatic stranger within.…

4 pages, Audio CD

First published October 27, 1973

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About the author

Louis L'Amour

956 books3,447 followers
Louis 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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5 stars
2,193 (32%)
4 stars
2,623 (39%)
3 stars
1,621 (24%)
2 stars
237 (3%)
1 star
33 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 388 reviews
Profile Image for Scott.
2,237 reviews270 followers
August 17, 2023
"Before the sun appeared the earth was still, and silence lay like a blessing upon the land. No blade stirred in the coolness, nor any bird in the sky, only somewhere not too far off, a meadowlark spoke inquiringly into the morning. One arresting finger of smoke lifted thinly into the sky . . . " -- on page 33

The Quick and the Dead is a good if unexceptional L'Amour Western story, highlighted by a female protagonist who discovers a previously untapped but required fortitude. The city-bred McKaskel family - husband Duncan, wife Susanna, and 'tween son Tom - leave the comfort of the urban Northeastern U.S. and travel by wagon to (presumably) the Arizona territory of the 1880's. Quickly running afoul of a local horse rustling gang - whose members sport monikers like 'Doc' Shabbit, 'Red' Hyle, and Ike Mantle, so obviously their parents just knew they were going to grow up to fill out the villainous roles - the family is soon saved by the intervention of the mysterious gunslinging Con Vallian (yes, I think we're supposed to imagine the root term 'valiant') who enters their lives at an opportune moment. Although it's never quite explained exactly why Vallian throws in his lot with the McKaskel family - he's given virtually no backstory here - his tenacity and assistance are invaluable. (*Oddly, actor Sam Elliott played the Vallian role in a TV-move adaptation over 30 years ago, but the character's occasional quippy and always-detached air seem made more for a George Clooney or Brad Pitt type.) Once the tale gets moving the action and suspense are good, but it's slightly marred by an abrupt conclusion. However, I liked the possible interpretation that while men like Vallian tamed the 'Wild West' frontier, it was folks like the McKaskels who were needed to settle it.
Profile Image for Jason Koivu.
Author 7 books1,399 followers
April 2, 2018
Shakespeare this ain't, but boy howdy The Quick and the Dead is a damn good time!

Yeah, dialogue is often stilted and the character of Con Vallian sometimes comes off as a deus ex machina kind of guardian angel. However, there's still a lot to like here, such as some of the characters' development as the book progresses. A strong female is always a pleasant addition to westerns. The story's pacing is good with a solid amount of action, balanced with timely introspection.

For such a short book, Louis L'Amour manages to pack in plenty of punch. Recommended for western fans!

Profile Image for Fred Shaw.
563 reviews47 followers
September 13, 2017
If you like classic western stories, then you know the work of Louis L'Amour. Need I say more?
Profile Image for Amy.
Author 2 books159 followers
April 5, 2009
I picked this up to read as part of a release challenge. The "I DARE YOU; A Read-and-Release Challenge with a Twist" proposed by gnissorckoob. I've never read any western stuff. This seemed and appropriate way to take up the gauntlet. Yippie o ki yay!

The cover says" Con Vallian knew the best way to stay out of trouble was to mind his own business. Then he stopped for a cup of coffee at a stranger's campfire and found himself guiding a family of greenhorns across the prairie- fighting a pack of rustlers on one hand and some mighty unpredictable Indians on the other!

I kept seeing Clint Eastwood as Con Vallian, as I read- and found myself trying to cast other hollywooders in the various roles. All in all, it was an enjoyable book- very quick to read. I liked the simplicity of the plot- in so many other books today, this plot line would be one of about six woven in the book, so that you are exhausted when you finally close the covers.

I also started collecting some Louis L'amour words of wisdom:

-"Trust in the Lord, but keep your powder dry."
-"One does not go into the bush after a grizzly."
-"Ever'body's entitled to a notion now and again."
-He's a canny one, and the next time they come, ma'am, it'll be root hog or die, no two ways about it."
-"You have to fight for most of the things worth havin'...or somebody does."

Now I just have to figure out two things- where to release the book and what "root hog or die" means.

Happy Trails to you.... (which, by the way, is a song I want played at my funeral.)
Profile Image for John.
1,659 reviews130 followers
November 14, 2020
Con Vallian bumps into tenderfoot Duncan McKasel, his attractive wife Suzanna and their young son Tom. The family is heading west over the prairies to a new life. Con teaches some valuable lessons about life. They are pursued by a gang of crooks where one wants Suzanna and the other gold.

An enjoyable read and my favorite character was the Huron. Lots of action on the wide open plains and in the mountain. There is coffee, unpredictable Indians and some bad guys. Vintage Louis.
1,818 reviews83 followers
June 10, 2020
This is not one of L'Amour's best. The book moves very slowly and does not pick up any vigor until near the end. The ending is good and saves the book, but L'Amour usually does much better. Recommended only to L'Amour fans.
Profile Image for Carol Jones-Campbell.
2,010 reviews
April 19, 2021
This is only the second Louis L'Amour book I've ever read. It's a good story and I feel like I'm living and riding on the plains. A quick and easy read. It's a classic, has the legendary good vs. evil theme, that the Western genre is known for and it's readers crave.

Con Vallian knows what it takes to survive in the West, he's a fast gun, honest and tough. Duncan and Susanna McKaskel, with their son Tom are greenhorns, moving out West to farm and tired of City life.

When Con stumbles on them, he can't ride off and leave them. He ends up teaching them skills to survive in the harsh land of the West, to escape a hornet's nest they stumble in a ram shack town. It's a race across the plains, a good vs. evil chase, that see's a family of greenhorns become hardy seasoned veterans and find the perfect homestead. Their animals are losing weight as they are riding the trails.

Definitely this is one that can and will be reread, time and time again and you can't say that about every book. Highly Recommend.
Profile Image for Morgan Giesbrecht.
Author 2 books176 followers
Read
May 1, 2022
This was my first book by the author, and I can’t say I was overly impressed. Several fellow reviewers speak very highly of L’Amour’s works, and I wanted to be wowed, but instead, I was sadly disappointed.

Clueless Easterners coming West was fine, but the whole concept of outlaw men wanting to kill a man because of his drop-dead gorgeous wife and an alleged wagon full of gold? Yeah, not so much.

The outlaw guys were thoroughly nasty. Duncan and Tom McKaskel were okay. I wasn’t crazy about Duncan’s wife, Susanna. And Con…well…I didn’t like the way he seemed to cosy up to Susanna, but I appreciated his willingness to teach the family survive and serve as a sort of bodyguard. It was rather strange to read a story without really any real character development.

The audiobook narrator did a great job on all the characters except Susanna (the only woman in the cast), and I nearly stopped the audiobook because of it as the voice was getting on my nerves. But I don’t like DNFing so I pushed through.

The ending was abrupt. The audiobook ended, and I just sat there saying, “Wait, that’s it?” Very strange.

I’m not giving it a star rating because I just don’t know how to rate it.

The one thing I can say I loved about this book was the prose. The author can describe a setting so beautifully you can see it. I aspire to that.

Any Louis L’Amour fans, feel free to recommend your favourite book of his because I want to give him another chance!

Content: language
Profile Image for SheLove2Read.
3,093 reviews202 followers
March 14, 2009
There isn't a better western author who ever lived than Louis L'amour and this book is one of his prime examples of gritty, action packed, make-you-think stories. L'amour writes with such eloquence that you find yourself taken back to the time and place the story is set in, and when you finish the book, wish you really did live in the era.
Profile Image for Barnabas Piper.
Author 12 books1,144 followers
July 24, 2018
Classic western - pitch perfect and fits the paradigm. L’Amour is an American treasure.
Profile Image for Paul (Life In The Slow Lane).
867 reviews70 followers
January 20, 2025
Go west! (And possibly get shot, scalped, arrowed, bear-bit, mountain lion-lacerated, snake-bit, kidnapped, robbed, raped and get indigestion and farts from the crappy beans. Not necessarily in that order.) How did they survive?

Besides having the sexiest name in the Universe, Louis L'Amour was one of those uber-talented people who publishers just loved. He was probably one of those annoying kids at school, who never seemed to study but got straight A's. I don't know how many novels he wrote, but he had more than 45 made into feature films and movies. That's probably more than the eminent S. King. So you know this book is going to be good.

This is about the troubles faced by a small pioneer family unit doing the "Head West" thing in the early 1800s. Wagon trains gave safety in numbers, but it's pretty hard to circle the wagons when you only have the one. This little family were brave or stupid. L'Amour sets the scene beautifully and doles out lashings of action. I like his portrayal of the native americans ("Injuns" as the bad guys call them). It seems a bit more realistic than the movies portray them.

If you want a break from your usual genres, Westerns can be a good diversion and this one is worth a read. I took one star off, simply because I didn't think it was as good as True Grit which had a more interesting plot, but this is still a good read.
Profile Image for *Stani*.
399 reviews52 followers
August 29, 2019
Honestly the worst Louis L’Amour book I’ve read.

Everyone in this story acts dumb. Stupid decisions are made on every page by the good guys and the bad guys alike, making it one frustrating read.

The only person who doesn’t act foolish tries to help but all his suggestions fall on death ears, or his ideas get shut down, even though he is the one who knows how to survive in the wild west and the newcomers don’t. But they argue with him about everything, as if they have all the answers.

The book wasn’t long enough, thankfully, otherwise I would totally drop the story.

When you wish for the good guys to get shot by the bad guys so it would be over, it’s never a good sign. It make me wish for everyone to get ambushed by Indian war party- at least that would have been the most logical part of the story.

FYI - if you’ve seen the movie with baby faced Leo DiCaprio, Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman and Russell Crowe, this story has nothing to do with that movie even a little bit. It was a bit disappointing to find out, but alas. Such as life.
Profile Image for Fredrick Danysh.
6,844 reviews194 followers
November 27, 2020
After moving west, Duncan McKaskel has his life saved by a stranger named Con Vallain to save his life. But how is Duncan's wife involved? Another good story from a master story teller.
Profile Image for Anna.
843 reviews47 followers
February 15, 2023
A few weeks ago, I watched the movie by the same title, starring Sam Elliott and Tom Conti. I enjoyed watching how the seasoned westerner, played by Elliott, was drawn to the pioneer family, at first by the beauty of the woman, and then by the courage they displayed in the face of tremendous odds. I wanted to see how closely the movie followed the book.

It was very close, only deviating in some minor plot points. Elliott plays the part of Con Vallian, the drifter who sees that a gang of eight ruthless outlaws intends to overtake the slow-moving pioneer wagon, steal the family's horses and possessions, eliminate the father and son, and have their way with the woman. Vallian chooses to even the odds, even though he doesn't really understand why he cares, except that the woman is pretty and she makes good coffee. But as the conflict draws to a climax, he begins to admire their courage in the face of danger and throws his lot in with them against the long odds.
Profile Image for HornFan2 .
762 reviews47 followers
September 8, 2017
A quick and easy read, one of my favorite books from Louis L'Amour. It's a classic, has the legendary good verse evil theme, that the Western genre is known for and it's readers crave.

Con Vallian knows what it takes to survive in the West, he's a fast gun, honest and tough. Duncan and Susanna McKaskel, with their son Tom are greenhorns, moving out West to farm and tired of City life.

When Con stumbles on them, he can't ride off and leave them. He ends up teaching them skills to survive in the harsh land of the West, to escape a hornet's nest they stumble in a ram shack town. It's a race across the plains, a good verse evil chase, that see's a family of greenhorns become hardy season veterans and find the perfect homestead.

Definitely this is one that will be reread, time and time again and you can't say that about every book.
Profile Image for Bill.
508 reviews
August 2, 2023
This novel was SOOO much better than I thought it would be. And no, it has nothing to do with the movie of the same name. This is a great thriller as well as an amazing Western novel. I can't remember reading anything else quite like it. In addition to the excellently drawn characters, the author does a phenomenal job of depicting the dregs of society out where the only law if the gun AND he crafts a truly effective thrilled that continues through the last page. I had no idea Louis L'Amour could be this good.
Profile Image for Austin Smith.
690 reviews66 followers
June 3, 2022
A small family decides to move out west to start a new life, only they discover that life out west isn't as civilized as it is in the east; with the help of a drifter, they fight for their lives and for their freedom as a ragtag group of bandits tries to steal their loot and leave them for dead.

I enjoyed this quick and action packed short novel. This was my first Louis L' Amour book and I had a good time with it.

3⭐
Profile Image for Natalie.
804 reviews2 followers
January 22, 2023
This was plain and simple fun. Straightforward writing, time period speech and a regular James Bond-of-the-west type story. If you've seen Gunsmoke or Have Gun Will Travel, this is very similar to those stories. A ridiculously skilled gunman travels alone, and decides to help a family traveling West in a wagon who are being harassed by a band of thieves and cattle rustlers. This is my first L'Amour, and I had a really good time with it. It was a quick story that was constantly moving and didn't overstay its welcome. The gunfights were fun and it was easy to imagine them playing out.
The thing that bugged me was the fact we knew little to nothing about the gunman Con Vallian. Where did he come from? How did he learn the skills he has honed so well? How many other people has he helped? The story also ends abruptly, which makes you think that it is part of a series, or that Con will eventually show up again in another installment. The version that I read (rather old, a first paperback edition) was riddled with misspellings. Did they have editors in the 70's or what?
If you love westerns, overly skilled cowboys or historical fiction Oregon Trail stories, you might enjoy this!
Profile Image for Edwin.
350 reviews30 followers
September 19, 2017
The short novel starts at a furious pace and doesn’t let up. Tells the story of the McKaskel family’s progression from victimized easterners into self-sufficient pioneers, aided by an experienced and fearsome wanderer, waged in a deadly struggle against a gang of vicious outlaws. Plenty of action and a no-frills plot make this one a real page-turner.
Profile Image for Malum.
2,833 reviews169 followers
January 11, 2022
a very strong beginning and end with a bit of sag in the middle. Also, part of the plot hinges on a very weird romance that I thought was more awkward than romantic.
Profile Image for Craig.
279 reviews23 followers
July 23, 2022
"Out here you better have a gun, and a gun in the wagon ain't good for nothin'. I believe what the old Quaker said, 'Trust in the Lord, but keep your powder dry."
Profile Image for Wayne Thomason.
4 reviews
August 4, 2024
This was a decent read, seemed to be going in a constant circle over and over. Started good but ending could have been better.
91 reviews1 follower
October 29, 2024
TEMPO. Lotta fun. Nothing too heavy, no wasted words, just a shot of action directly into the vein. Good old fashioned western shoot em up

I liked how the POV would shift abruptly from one character to another. I think that helped contribute to the good pace of the story.

Ok enough chit chat - how bout the score? This one won’t win the Pulitzer, but it was exactly what I was looking for. You don’t want the French Laundry for every meal. Sometimes you are just looking for the In N Out burger and when you get it…it DELIVERS. Johnny quit talking and start listening - mark it 5
Profile Image for Emily.
94 reviews2 followers
March 11, 2014
This was my first Louis L'Amour novel. It was exactly what I expected. It is a little like watching a TV show that you know will have just enough action and storyline to keep your interest. There was nothing powerful or terribly thought provoking about this book but it was something to do for those of us who don't have TV and would occasionally just like some diversion that is pretty clean.

The most thought it provoked was about the pioneers who came out and settled this land. It was humbling to imagine their quality of life and to imagine that in many instances all they had was prayer (if they were the praying type) and each other. It is also interesting to think of what extent people in our society behave because there is law. A lawless society with no recourse to authorities would be terrifying. Sheds light on the plight of many in ghettos or stuck in a unjust justice system, as is currently happening all over the world today. But then, I wasn't going to over think this novel...
Profile Image for Lu.
47 reviews
March 7, 2013
This is the first Western book I've read & I was surprised how much I liked it! I had been looking over the bookshelves at Goodwill and saw this baby. I picked it up because I knew my grandpa Jack enjoyed listening to Louis L'amour audio books when he could not see well enough to read. I think I'll go back for more.
Profile Image for January.
104 reviews
April 8, 2019
This was my first western. Very easy read. I particularly enjoyed the character Con Vallian. Maybe because I know he’s played by Sam Elliot(swoon) in the movie. I will be watching the movie. I would recommend and read another book from this author.
Profile Image for Adam.
111 reviews
October 9, 2019
Good writing but could make no real connection to the characters. Plot was a bit forced and overall was lack luster.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 388 reviews

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