Unguarded Moment

by Louis L'Amour

Arthur Fordyce is an ordinary man blessed with a budding career, a lovely fiancee, and a sunny future. He is hardly a criminal-until he finds a wallet stuffed with money at the racetrack. In one "unguarded moment," he removes the cash and throws the billfold away-unaware that he is being watched by a petty crook named Bill Chafey. Unscrupulous and conniving, Chafey approaches Fordyce to demand a payoff. And Arthur Fordyce, frightened and guilty, takes his first step toward a downward spiral of violence, duplicity, and near ruin.

Genres: Fiction, Westerns, Mystery, Historical Fiction

Audio Cassette

First published April 6, 1999

About the author

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".

Reviews

[Jeff Learned · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the first Lamour book I read that wasn't a western. It was a classic noir fiction story. Ultimately, in my mind, this was a morality tale. Whether it was his intention or not, Lamour does a good job of fictionalizing Proverbs 28:6 "Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways."

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of those stories that is a great example why honesty IS the best policy. Man sees a wallet dropped and instead of getting it back to the owner intact he takes it. then he is blackmailed by someone who saw and that leads to manslaughter and that leads to more blackmail, Good Greif. This was actually a good read.

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

If this were a movie adaptation, it would be in the film noir genre. In this short story, the protagonist, pockets the money of a lost wallet and things go downhill from there. I listened to an audio production of this.

[Kunal · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 star, a good noir story!!

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Series of short stories in book titled, "The Hills of Homoside"; Detective Stories by Louis L'Amour

[Kristi Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This short story is a departure from the usual Louis L'Amour western stories that I enjoy. It's really a modern day story about Arthur Fordyce, an up and coming executive who accepts a free ticket to his boss's box at Belmont race track and finds a wallet bulging with money.

Arthur picks it up and before he knows it his whole life is unraveling. A petty pickpocket notices him and begins blackmailing him after taking half of the loot. His rich girl friend notices the changes in him and doesn't know if he is right for her anymore.

This is a great story about how easy it is to take a wrong turn and how hard it can be to get back on track. This story is more hard boiled detective/film noir type than anything else I have ever read by Mr. L'Amour.

It is only a little over an hour to listen to but well worth the time.

[Sidney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to the audio adaptation of this tale and found it to be a twisting and engaging bit of noir.