The Last Ride

by Thomas Eidson, Thomas Eidson

A powerful novel of the American West narrates the story of a dying man's attempts to make peace with his daughter, their struggle to rescue his granddaughter from renegades and slave traders, and his lifelong search for inner peace.

Genres: Westerns, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Family, Modern, Film, Native American

245 pages, Hardcover

First published March 21, 1995

Reviews

[Murray · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read that was made into a movie with Cate Blanchett and Tommy Lee Jones.

What makes it great?

🌵 In the American West of the late 1800s, a young mother’s daughter has been abducted. Estranged from her father, she nevertheless grudgingly accepts his help in trying to rescue the girl.

Father and daughter clash constantly as they track the missing girl, one of the issues being their divergent concepts of God or a Supreme Being and what spirituality should look like. She prays like a Christian for guidance and help in saving her daughter, he embraces Native American ways and practices them as they travel, practices she scorns.

She needs his help, but wishes fervently that she didn’t. Pent up anger, built up over the years, causes her to lash out at her father mile after mile. He accepts her attacks humbly and meekly. But he won’t turn aside. And she knows without his assistance she cannot rescue her daughter from her abductors.

🏜️ All too soon, yet not soon enough for a grieving mother, the moment of confrontation and conflict with the kidnappers comes, and father and daughter must act together or lose the girl and everything about family they have come to realize matters to them both.

[mackenzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Only the mountains live forever.”

I enjoyed this book a lot tbh! Much more than I expected to. obsessed with that quote tho 🫶🏻

[Oscar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nuevo México, 1886. En una tormentosa tarde, Jones llega al rancho Baldwin, donde viven Brake, Maggie y sus tres hijos. Es un extraño anciano, blanco, pero con vestimentas indias, acompañado de su vieja montura, una mula y un perro. Desde el primer momento, el misterio acompaña a este hombre, y más cuando Maggie da muestras de haberle conocido anteriormente. A partir de cierto hecho, en el que tienen que ver los apaches, empezará una serie de aventuras, con ciertos tintes sobrenaturales.

‘La última galopada’ (The Last Ride, 1995), del norteamericano Thomas Eidson, es un magnífico western crepuscular, místico, violento en algunos momentos, pero que también hace hincapié en la redención, la fe y la esperanza. El enfrentamiento entre el cristianismo y el paganismo también está presente en la narración. Eidson escribe muy bien, y la traducción, a cargo de Marta Lila Murillo, es estupenda. También tiene adaptación cinematográfica, ‘Desapariciones’ (2003), a cargo de Ron Howard, interpretada por Tommy Lee Jones y Cate Blanchet. Magnífica novela.

[Hebe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this! So much. Eidson is truly a fantastic writer. His hero characters are strong and brave and deeply flawed; their animals companions add humour and tenderness to an otherwise harsh landscape. The book does a great job of showing the old west from multiple perspectives, bringing together old world and new world values in moments of both conflict and unity. This story left me genuinely touched and emotional and I won't forget it quickly. I would definitely recommend it to both diehard western fans and people who are entirely new to the genre.

[Dhanaraj Rajan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great entertainer.

This is a plot driven Wild West Thriller.
The pace is racy and it moves from one scene to the next.
The characters are not that developed. But that does not matter as the unfolding events keep you engaged.

The main theme in the novel is The Family Bonds - The Value of Family.
Other accompanying themes are: What is a True Religion (The Apache Religion or the Christianity or do they both mean the same - 'God is God after all'), Love between a Father and his Daughter & Courage in the Face of Difficulties.

But then, these themes are not reflected upon in a profound manner. They emerge out via the racy dramatic/tragic events.

Read it to get entertained.

[Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I saw the movie titled The Missing years ago and LOVED IT! The movie was based off of this book. While a lot is the same (names, character personalities), the story is very different in much of the plot (with added characters that were left out of the movie). Most of the book was kind of slow going for me, but I think this is more due to the fact that I like short chapters that make me feel like I'm making tons of progress and can stop easily at many points without losing the pace of the chapter. Some chapters were 30-40 pages. I also felt that a lot of the story developed very slowly, but I am judging it based off of knowing the movie first. I really loved the end to this story and how Maggie and Jones found their peace. And I was surprised and pleased with his reasons he had to leave her as a child (I don't remember this being in the movie). Having a father who left me as a child, I've yearned for a moment like this, a validation or something. This book gave me that feeling. I love the movie and the book in different ways, if you haven't seen it yet I suggest you watch it (The Missing with Cate Blanchett and Tommy Lee Jones on Netflix). I love the ending in the book most though. I'm going to re watch it now before I return the book to the library tomorrow. Definitely recommended.

[Jillian]

LOVED this book. Gorgeous western writing, and the female protagonist simply leap off the page with such depth and strength that it makes you wonder what kind of incredible women Thomas Eidson has in his life to be able to write about them this way.

The Indian Sorcery and religion was fascinating, and made even better by the fact that there's a film version of this novel (The Missing).

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gripping and moving, although very violent in places. A good recreation of the unforgiving world of the old West where mistrust between groups seems to be the order of the day and killing is the answer to the problem. The women of the novel are well realised - brave, strong and loyal.

[Matty · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book started out really strong but just ended up really long. The characters were not consistently written and the stereotypes were terrible. The fact that the villain was more monster than human was a let down.

[Gary Sites · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a superb western novel that was much more than a western. Along with the horses and guns, there are layers of philosophical underpinnings and emotions brought to life through fantastic character development. We get several points of view of life in the American west of the 1880s, which broadens the book’s appeal.
I can understand how some wouldn’t take to the slow pace of the first half of the book, but I relished in the great writing and the atmosphere that Eidson created. This is not just a great western, but a great book. I tip my hat to Mr. Eidson for creating such a beautiful story.

[SouthWestZippy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Taken from the Goodreads synopsis. "A powerful novel of the American West narrates the story of a dying man's attempts to make peace with his daughter, their struggle to rescue his granddaughter from renegades and slave traders, and his lifelong search for inner peace."

I tried to watch the movie with my husband and did not care for it, so I read the book to see if it was different enough for me to like the story. Overall, it was a good story but filled with one stereotype after another. I did enjoy enough of it to give it three stars. Parts of the story had me on the edge on what was going to happen next and just loved the interactions of the characters with the animals.

[Dustin Tramel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too much Native American witchcraft. Also, differing worldviews will ultimately struggle to coexist. They will not simply just get along. A pagan worldview and a Christian worldview might have a few things in common but they are not two paths leading to the top of the same mountain.

[Jorge Fernández · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quería terminar el año (y comenzar el nuevo también) con un western y me decidí por el único número de la colección Frontera que estaba catalogado en La Tercera Fundación. He disfrutado con la pequeña trama sobrenatural aunque he echado de menos un poco más de ritmo y crudeza.

[Knut André Dale · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

[evie · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a part of a trilogy and themed as 'family,' this wild tale captured my heart when unexpected love develops as a result of a terrifying incident. For me the narrative portrays that when all else seems lost there remains the love of family. And in this book the family comes from unexpected realms. I cried reading this story because of motherhood and fathers and what animals will accomplish for their humans. Then there were the ties between souls and the connection between us and the earth and whatever else is out there in the vastness. The many examples of love overcoming evil.

The interesting and positive spirituality throughout the story evokes the magic and the meaning that we glimpse in the world sometimes when to be alive pushes us to the limit.

[Dennis Goshorn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was attracted to this book after watching the movie by the same name. Of course the book is different and better than the movie—but the story of forgiveness, healing and redemption is evident in both. If you don't want to spend the time reading the novel, then get the movie.
I love the Western genre, but this story could just as easily take place in modern day America. The west of the 1880s is merely the setting that the author choose.

[Yeva · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book impressed me enormously. Filled with pathos, it left me gasping at the depths it took me to emotionally. I loved it - hated it, hated the way it made me feel, and yet I couldn't stop reading it. I highly recommed this book.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Watched the movie and decided to read the book. Much better than the movie. Very deep and emotional story with strong women protagonists. Not your typical western story with the guns and violence. A story of family love, hate and forgiveness.

[Anna Criswell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ugh so much death! Not a fan of the ending. I like things to be resolved!

[Mike Futcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

On the face of it, Thomas Eidson's The Last Ride is a straightforward Western story, right down to its generic title. It follows Maggie, a young frontierswoman with grit, who reconnects with her estranged father in order to rescue her daughter, who has been kidnapped by a band of ruthless Apaches. To get her back, they must travel in hot pursuit across the Western landscape, overcoming the terrain, their savage enemies and, of course, their differences.

All rather unremarkable, you would agree – though for fans of the genre it's not an unappealing prospect either. But there are two things which help The Last Ride stand somewhat apart from its formula. The first is that Eidson laces it throughout with a tension between the Christianity believed in by Maggie and the mystic paganism of Samuel Jones, her estranged father who left when she was young to live amongst the Indians. This tension is quite well done throughout, and while some readers will be put off by the lack of ambiguity in the mysticism – Eidson is quite happy for characters to have prophetic dreams which resolve an impasse in their adventure, for example – it works because Eidson engages with it. The juxtaposition of the Christianity and the Indian mysticism is reasonably nourishing brain food and gives a hint of literary weight to this otherwise standard Western. Deus may be ex in Eidson's machina, but He rooms there comfortably.

The second reason The Last Ride stands apart from many of its peers is that Eidson can actually write. Though routine in its course, the book isn't actually formulaic. The difference between those two adjectives might not immediately be apparent, but essentially boils down to how well a writer can freshen things up. Eidson's 'frontierswoman with grit' character has less sass and more vulnerability than writers usually grant such characters, whilst the half-wild, estranged father character has more to him than a grunt or a grizzled line of dialogue, and his regrets at what he has abandoned are raw. Eidson's dialogue is just a little bit keener and more real; his plot pivots a bit more artfully disguised. Consequently, a routine story feels rather refreshed when you're reading it, and while it doesn't make The Last Ride an essential read, the book is a good bridge between the pot-boiler Westerns and the weightier, literary ones.

[Michael Jolls · Rating 4 out of 5]

Regardless of how much the plot is based off an actual event, the novel is a deep dive into Native American spiritualism. Being nonfiction, “The Last Ride” doesn’t offer any historical context for the names of the spirits or the Apache religious belief system — rather the reader takes in an experience of their spiritualism through the eyes of the characters.

For filmic reference – I've watched "The Missing" (2003) probably four times, including the extended cut and once with audio commentary. In some ways, the book is arguably more brutal than the film because Jones is very hard to grasp in the novel until the very end when the reader is given an explanation why he left Maggie as a child. The book also has a lot more time to develop the attachment Dot has for Jones throughout their journey, which is the access point for the spirituality. Maggie & Dot's steadfast Christian faith is much more prominent in the book and is more strongly contrasted against the Apache spiritualism that Jones abides by. Although the film allows for one scene(s) to validate the witchcraft when Cate Blanchett is under the spell, the book plays that card much harder. Given all the ink that was spilled over "The Da Vinci Code" three years later, the truth of the matter is that Ron Howard really isn't all that invested in bashing the Christian faith since he downplays an opportunity to do so, which is readily available in Eidson's book. Rather, Howard loves the messy families, and what's interesting is that the film goes out of it's way to complicate the relationship between Aaron Eckhart & Blanchett, but doesn't go into the half siblings that Maggie/Blanchett has from the book. Therefore, the film is a very "Hollywood" adaptation; the book has the space to dabble in the backstory of Jones.

[Mosey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, this was the last book that my mum gave me to read before she died. I thought she said, that my sister had said, that it was the best book she had ever read. But I think she must have been in a muddle, because this book was rubbish.
It's the story of a white family, Brake, Maggie and their two daughters Lily and Dot, (I think there is a son as well but he doesn't get much of a mention) that live in New Mexico in the late 1880's. One night, a stranger, Samuel Jones, appears at their ranch. He turns out to be the long lost father of Maggie who left his family years ago to live with an apache woman.
Then, the eldest daughter, Lily, is stolen by an apache and so starts a painful (yes, that's the reading) journey through New Mexico, led by her grandfather, to find her.
The idea behind the story was good but the characters were annoying, mostly Maggie, who could have done with reading 'Love Wins by Rob Bell'.
Although Samuel Jones was a white man, the author insisted on having him speak like a person who was just learning English. I think this was done to help reinforce the fact that he had lived with the Apache for years. However, it wasn't very authentic because he was an educated man and would have known how to speak English properly.
By the end of the book, most of the characters had died, which was a good thing.
The most interesting characters in the story were the horses.

[Nigel Kotani · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is as much of a journey as it is a book. Set in the last days of the old American West it had me totally gripped from a couple of pages in, a hold which it never relinquished.

It seemingly starts as a classic frontier tale of an enigmatic stranger arriving in a remote ranch, but excellently written. Whilst there has been some dross produced in both book and film about the Old West the early parts of this book reminded me that when the author or filmmaker gets it right - try reading the Sisters Brothers (which was Booker-shortlisted) or watching The Outlaw Josey Wales - there are few better settings.

The book then travels in unexpected and eclectic directions: family relationships, forgiveness, revenge, growth, religion, shamanism, loss, guilt and love to name but a few of many. The wonderful thing is that it delivers in every category, whilst still remaining a thriller.

Full of surprises, and eschewing obvious plotlines, I'm struggling to think of another adventure book which contains this richness and this depth. Superb. Four stars from me, but rounded down from four and a half.

[Thomas Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

My second Eidson book and I enjoyed it. After reading St. Agnes' Stand, this one followed. It had been adapted into a movie, re-titled The Missing, and I had seen that and thought it was well done. The movie follows the book's plot for the most part. I enjoy Eidson's style. As I had stated in my review of St. Agnes, it's reminiscent of McMurtry and McCarthy but with deeper ruminations on hope and faith and family. Sometimes while reading this one I wondered, though, if Eidson was on peyote as he developed Jones' character and put him through some of the psychological -- or tripping -- events of the story. Whew. Sometimes you just wanted to reach into the pages and shake him back into consciousness to get the story moving again. Anyone who reads my reviews knows I don't have much patience for lazy editors, typos and repetition, and I'm afraid Eidson's editor failed him on a few occasions here. But overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it. He does a magnificent job of weaving a fractured but blended family together to bravely battle the evils that we do to each other. Along the way he delights the reader with beautiful celestial imagery that gives even this atheist pause.

[Bish Denham · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are things I really liked about this novel: the descriptions of the landscapes, the incorporation of plant and animal life, the over-all deep sense of place the author conveyed and which I, as the reader, became immersed in.

However, the omniscient point of view used by the author, made it difficult for me to connect with any of the characters. I thought at first the story was going to be told more from Dot's POV, which is what originally pulled me into the story. As it was there didn't seem to be a truly central character or POV. And I also found some of the actions that they took or decisions they made to be erratic and/or irrational and/or added simply to take up space. There were several such "detours" that could have been edited out and wouldn't have changed the over-all trajectory of the story at all.

And yet... there is a beauty in this story that was haunting. The struggle of the father/daughter relationship, which goes so deep and is not just about abandonment. And the balance needed between Indian and Christian beliefs.

[Kerry Pickens · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title of this book is actually The Last Ride. The film adaptation is The Missing. This is a pretty good western story but I would not compare it to Larry McMurty’s writing. The story is about a woman named Maggie and her father shows up after abandoning Maggie’s pregnant mother and Maggie years ago. Her father Samuel Jones is eccentric and dresses like Native American, except that he is quite feeble and came home to die. Maggie’s daughter Lily gets carried off by some hostile natives, and Samuel goes after her on his old horse. The conflict in the story is between how Samuel chose to live his life, how Maggie believes the straight and narrow Christian path is the only proper life. There is some racism inherent in the story that could have been left out like using the words squaw, hag, etc or one dimensional portraits. The animals in the story have more personality than the Native Americans do.

[William Pike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why are Western films and books popular, or why were they? Maybe it's because they are so often morality plays, obsessed with issues of honour, decency, sacrifice and independence. Unfortunately they are/were often tainted by racism (negative portraits of Native Americans) and sexism (acquiescent women). The Last Ride, although its plot is sometimes convoluted and and incredible, avoids these pitfalls as it is about an old White man who belongs to an Apache group and his daughter and granddaughters who wrestle with his cultural heritage during a long drawn-out kidnapping and pursuit. And, in the end, it is the Native American worldview that appears to be the winner. So, if you like Westerns, you can read this one without a guilty conscience. PS: I thought Eidson's first book, St Agnes Stand, was a better read.

[Bill P. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I appear to have held onto the ARC of this novel (my copy titles it The Last Ride) from before it's 1995 release. Started reading on a whim and was initially grabbed by the narrative and the developing characters. But it didn't take long for the narrative to start to feel awfully familiar, whether from various films or McMurty's Lonesome Dove, not sure which. And, what with one of the central characters and his horse alternating between being feeble and almost dead and then suddenly able to win out in fight 3 against one, and the recurring theme of Christian god verses Indian spirits, I might not have finished the novel but for its short length at 243 pages. Always looking for western themed novels to recommend to my would be cowboy/rancher brother in law who is also an Ag teacher in a small town in Montana, but knew pretty quickly this wasn't one.

[Marcy Rae Henry · Rating 2 out of 5]

best things:
*the dog is named chaco <3 <3 <3
*peace is somewhat made as much as peace can be 'made'
*the southwestern landscape
*line: 'only the mountains live forever.'

worst things: **with spoilers**
~so many brown peeps 'have to die' to 'save' the white peeps
~the browns seem ignorantly 'innocent' and all too 'willing' to do this 'for familia' despite never having met the whites/half fam
~their deaths are too quickly and easily 'dealt with,' narratively speaking
~new characters intro'd at end--reader can't really get attached to em and they are ploys and 'browns' and so, are they worth getting attached to, eidson?
~the new minor minor characters are intro'd only to be killed off
~the apache/indigenous are portrayed as unnecessarily angry/violent with no mention of why they might be royally pissed off at what's happened to their people and their land
~the mexicans are very poorly portrayed--even if i wasn't media mexicana i'd be insulted
~again, no mention of why the mexicanos might be furiosos at what's happened to their people and tierra and gold and gods
~the 'hero' is a white guy who 'thinks he's indian.' he's adopted native ways, but is 'saved' at one point in the story when his white fam convinces another group of his whiteness
~wraps up too easily at the end. white privilege wasn't a term then, but their entitlement to Aztlan me molesta
~intersecting the white v brown with gender was stereotypical and did nothing for the story

[Sean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Please read before watching the movie -- or better still, instead of watching the movie.

The actual title is "The Last Ride" and it's a simply wonderful book. I enjoyed it tremendously. Asks a lot of spiritual questions and insight into how characters feel but does not truly comment on who is right and who is wrong. Even more astonishing is how organically and reasonably the characters question their own beliefs in light of the reality of their situations. However, and this is the art, the author does not browbeat you with the spiritual quest but lets it lead and inform the action and acts as a leitmotif for the main characters. Quite brilliant.