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Rim of the Desert
Jim Keene had travelled 1000 miles to get aw ay from trouble, only to find it waiting for him at the end of the trail. The smell of death perfumed the air when he ro de into Cloud Valley, where a blood feud threatened to blow the territory sky high. '
- GenresWesterns
172 pages, Hardcover
First published March 4, 1975
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 12, 2019
This hardcover former library book(Mount View High School, Thorndike , Maine) was published in 1945. Original copyright - 1940. Originally printed in Collier's Magazine. Triangle Books - The Blaikston Company - Philadelphia. "A. B. Ward" signature inside. So ... a pretty typical western so far. A stern and mysterious rider comes into Prairie City and encounters some typical western doings. Meets an interesting gal and some maybe-bad guys(cowboys) and some maybe-good guys(sodbusters). Conflict looms ... Mr. Haycox' way with words seems a BIT over-wrought, but he's trying to create that "western" atmosphere and psychological tension.
In the dramatic middle now and the hero has suffered a setback. Very typical of these stories. He'll get some help from other good guys(and gals). The literary set-up here is very much in the classic/mythic mode. The author is very vague about where exactly the story is set. The town names and names of other physical features are fictional. It's basic good vs evil and the bullets are now flying. Even modern westerns deploy at least some of that mythic element, if only in descriptions of the awesome landscape. Even those that are "closer" to what the reality might have been. "Blood Meridian" and "Lonesome Dove" for instance.
- Read on wiki yesterday that Ernest Hemingway was a fan of Haycox. You can see why he would be as the author's prose is both uber dramatic and spare/flat at the same time. Similar to EH's ...
The endgame is on now as our hero and his allies are maneuvering against the baddies. All through this it's easy to imagine various Hollywood stalwarts in the various roles. Definitely John Wayne for the hero, though others(Randolph Scott for one) would do just as well. It occurred to me that the whole thing and particularly the endgame very much resembles the Harry Potter saga. the hero as a loner whose purpose is to oppose evil ... the hero finds courageous helpers ... the hero suffers a near-mortal setback ... the hero re-emerges(like Jesus and Harry Potter) to take on the evil foe(s) in the final battle. VERY similar ... it's an archetypical set-up.
- absolutely NO mention of Native Americans thus far. The time frame is a bit vague - late 19th century.
Finished last night with this "literate" western. From the perspective of 70 years on it seems a bit pretentious and overly unrealistic. Still worth reading, but only barely - a solid 3*. The protracted endgame takes place during a fall blizzard and was very confusing. One baddie even commits suicide. In a western???? People riding this way and that, crossing each other's trails in the snow, barely seeing each other. Perhaps some kind of metaphor there, but I doubt it.
In the dramatic middle now and the hero has suffered a setback. Very typical of these stories. He'll get some help from other good guys(and gals). The literary set-up here is very much in the classic/mythic mode. The author is very vague about where exactly the story is set. The town names and names of other physical features are fictional. It's basic good vs evil and the bullets are now flying. Even modern westerns deploy at least some of that mythic element, if only in descriptions of the awesome landscape. Even those that are "closer" to what the reality might have been. "Blood Meridian" and "Lonesome Dove" for instance.
- Read on wiki yesterday that Ernest Hemingway was a fan of Haycox. You can see why he would be as the author's prose is both uber dramatic and spare/flat at the same time. Similar to EH's ...
The endgame is on now as our hero and his allies are maneuvering against the baddies. All through this it's easy to imagine various Hollywood stalwarts in the various roles. Definitely John Wayne for the hero, though others(Randolph Scott for one) would do just as well. It occurred to me that the whole thing and particularly the endgame very much resembles the Harry Potter saga. the hero as a loner whose purpose is to oppose evil ... the hero finds courageous helpers ... the hero suffers a near-mortal setback ... the hero re-emerges(like Jesus and Harry Potter) to take on the evil foe(s) in the final battle. VERY similar ... it's an archetypical set-up.
- absolutely NO mention of Native Americans thus far. The time frame is a bit vague - late 19th century.
Finished last night with this "literate" western. From the perspective of 70 years on it seems a bit pretentious and overly unrealistic. Still worth reading, but only barely - a solid 3*. The protracted endgame takes place during a fall blizzard and was very confusing. One baddie even commits suicide. In a western???? People riding this way and that, crossing each other's trails in the snow, barely seeing each other. Perhaps some kind of metaphor there, but I doubt it.
April 21, 2026
I just finished this novel, and my thoughts are very mixed on it in general. For reference, my only experience with “Westerns” in media comes from the video game Red Dead Redemption 2, the musical “Paint Your Wagon”, and adaptations like Star Wars/Rango which are faithful in part but definitely expand on the basic formula in innovative ways.
There are some delightfully written passages here and there with descriptive but not quite flowery language. I had a very good sense of place - if I slowed down and read descriptions carefully I could follow Keene’s horseback trail in relation to all of the key locations very well which was especially helpful in the climax+falling action portions.
Characterization is my most critical complaint. We do see characters grow and we are in third person so we touch on different characters’ thoughts throughout the story, but overall shifts feel very rapid and poorly transitioned while dialogue feels nondescript and most characters sound similar enough to be indistinguishable. Portia and Aurora suffer the worst here - women are treated as little more than objects for a will-they-won’t they with our main character and their goals are almost exclusively related to their relationship with Jim. I absolutely despise the trope of “woman liberating herself through eventually getting a man to settle down with” and unfortunately Aurora is Jim’s liberation from a life on the move. I may be too harsh but it truly felt like Jim was the nucleus of all of the feeling and the women are purely cosmetic plot drivers to give some suspense in the story.
Overall not a horrible western novel. It has aged poorly in many ways that westerns have generally but the basic writing and plot are suspenseful enough to keep you engaged after the first 60-80 pages.
There are some delightfully written passages here and there with descriptive but not quite flowery language. I had a very good sense of place - if I slowed down and read descriptions carefully I could follow Keene’s horseback trail in relation to all of the key locations very well which was especially helpful in the climax+falling action portions.
Characterization is my most critical complaint. We do see characters grow and we are in third person so we touch on different characters’ thoughts throughout the story, but overall shifts feel very rapid and poorly transitioned while dialogue feels nondescript and most characters sound similar enough to be indistinguishable. Portia and Aurora suffer the worst here - women are treated as little more than objects for a will-they-won’t they with our main character and their goals are almost exclusively related to their relationship with Jim. I absolutely despise the trope of “woman liberating herself through eventually getting a man to settle down with” and unfortunately Aurora is Jim’s liberation from a life on the move. I may be too harsh but it truly felt like Jim was the nucleus of all of the feeling and the women are purely cosmetic plot drivers to give some suspense in the story.
Overall not a horrible western novel. It has aged poorly in many ways that westerns have generally but the basic writing and plot are suspenseful enough to keep you engaged after the first 60-80 pages.
October 5, 2017
This older western has all the spokes of a good western wheel story. A new man arrives in town and before long he has made a name for himself. There will be no messing with Jim Keene. On the run from trouble in the past Keene wasn't planning on staying long in Cloud Valley, but then he ends up in the middle of a fight between cattleman and homesteaders. One of the strongest forces in the nesters happens to wear a skirt and she is a force to be wrecked with. Will Keene find a new trail to follow or will trouble always be the journey he finds.
Always encouraging to find a book that allows a woman to be strong and support herself, this western does this. While she has help from the men around her, she stands her ground and goes on to do as she has dreams of, even as single woman in the old west when cattlemen and homesteads fought for the right to the land.
Jim Keene is the rough and tough 'cowboy', to me I was so into the woman in the book, he almost became the 2nd event. A man not to be messed with he does all the normal no one can get me old west actions, perhaps for self perhaps for love...then again... .
A good fast read western that seemed to not follow ALL of the normal old west ways, but kept the history of the story.
Always encouraging to find a book that allows a woman to be strong and support herself, this western does this. While she has help from the men around her, she stands her ground and goes on to do as she has dreams of, even as single woman in the old west when cattlemen and homesteads fought for the right to the land.
Jim Keene is the rough and tough 'cowboy', to me I was so into the woman in the book, he almost became the 2nd event. A man not to be messed with he does all the normal no one can get me old west actions, perhaps for self perhaps for love...then again... .
A good fast read western that seemed to not follow ALL of the normal old west ways, but kept the history of the story.
January 12, 2024
3-1/2 stars
This is a well written story and with most of his books, would make a good western movie. He writes about the good guys and the bad guys and strong women, and he writes well:
"He tried to think ... painstakingly reviewing what had happened and what was yet to happen. ... Pain broke through every ordered thought; it reduced Keene to the lowest stage of life -- the bottom level of muscle and nerve screaming for ease, with sensations of agony eating at his control. At last, exhausted and hard-racked, he closed his eyes and tried to swing with the recurring pulses, mentally rolling back with each oncoming shock."
"He traveled at a walk through a kind of blackness that had weight; it was a tangible substance he pushed his shoulders through. The wind came at him in contradictory crosscurrents, blizzard-cold."
"Wind shouldered him, snow spatted against his cheeks and built ragged awnings on his eyebrows."
This is a well written story and with most of his books, would make a good western movie. He writes about the good guys and the bad guys and strong women, and he writes well:
"He tried to think ... painstakingly reviewing what had happened and what was yet to happen. ... Pain broke through every ordered thought; it reduced Keene to the lowest stage of life -- the bottom level of muscle and nerve screaming for ease, with sensations of agony eating at his control. At last, exhausted and hard-racked, he closed his eyes and tried to swing with the recurring pulses, mentally rolling back with each oncoming shock."
"He traveled at a walk through a kind of blackness that had weight; it was a tangible substance he pushed his shoulders through. The wind came at him in contradictory crosscurrents, blizzard-cold."
"Wind shouldered him, snow spatted against his cheeks and built ragged awnings on his eyebrows."
March 19, 2026
I found this old book at a little free library in Sun City, AZ. A former S.C. library book, its tiny library markings made it a bit more interesting. Originally copyrighted in 1940, it was republished in 1976. The S.C. Library purchased it in July of 1979 from Baker & Taylor for $7.25 and it was shelved in their “Western” section. (Do libraries still have Western sections?). I wonder where it’s been since they discarded it. It’s History, people! Book lovers understand. 😊
Now, the story was awesome, a good old-fashioned clean tale. There is killing, but it isn’t gory or gratuitous. I think I might have read 1 or 2 westerns in my long life and it was time for another.
Great characters, good guys, bad guys, bad guys that turned to be good, strong women, strong men, mountains, valleys, a small town, cattlemen, homesteaders, and rescue and vengeance in a blizzard. Rim of the Desert was a great read about people who are willing to meet and overcome challenges.
Now, the story was awesome, a good old-fashioned clean tale. There is killing, but it isn’t gory or gratuitous. I think I might have read 1 or 2 westerns in my long life and it was time for another.
Great characters, good guys, bad guys, bad guys that turned to be good, strong women, strong men, mountains, valleys, a small town, cattlemen, homesteaders, and rescue and vengeance in a blizzard. Rim of the Desert was a great read about people who are willing to meet and overcome challenges.
April 9, 2022
Haycox is always a good read. He is a better writer then the genre really needs. His prose can be poetic at times and he puts so much character in his characters that they are fully formed. This tale is simple, a stranger rides into town, a drifter, looking for something, doesn't really know what. However he rides into a town that is seeing a common battle, homesteaders vs cattle ranchers, mainly one rancher who is ruthless and will do anything to get his way. The stranger doesn't like bullies and he always favors an underdog. It isnt like he has anything else to do, so might as well get under the big rancher's skin.
Recommended for western fans for sure, though there is a lot here for a non genre fan as well. Haycox ponders the question of what do you do when you get tired of the way life seems to lead you. What does one really want or need?
Recommended for western fans for sure, though there is a lot here for a non genre fan as well. Haycox ponders the question of what do you do when you get tired of the way life seems to lead you. What does one really want or need?
October 3, 2022
***SPOILER ALERT***
This book reminded me of Shane by Jack Schaefer. Haycox had a way with words and this was lovely to read. I liked the way that the men all evolved: Cleve, Joe, and eventually Keene. The women on the other hand...
Honestly, Aurora Brant AND Portia Crews are strong independent women who fight for what they want. And I suppose it is possible that they just hate each other. That their personalities are just so different that they could never "get" each other. I'm wondering how awkward community get togethers are going to be in the future for these folks. Aurora always knowing that Portia wants her man. Portia always knowing that Cleve loves Aurora.
And unlike Shane, Haycox gives us a happy ending. It's not that the changing environment, the settling of the frontier, can't contain a man like Shane....Keene alters himself so that he fits in that changing environment.
This book reminded me of Shane by Jack Schaefer. Haycox had a way with words and this was lovely to read. I liked the way that the men all evolved: Cleve, Joe, and eventually Keene. The women on the other hand...
Honestly, Aurora Brant AND Portia Crews are strong independent women who fight for what they want. And I suppose it is possible that they just hate each other. That their personalities are just so different that they could never "get" each other. I'm wondering how awkward community get togethers are going to be in the future for these folks. Aurora always knowing that Portia wants her man. Portia always knowing that Cleve loves Aurora.
And unlike Shane, Haycox gives us a happy ending. It's not that the changing environment, the settling of the frontier, can't contain a man like Shane....Keene alters himself so that he fits in that changing environment.
June 22, 2022
Not only was this book a breeze to read, but every sentence left me zooming towards the next. I couldn't put this book down for the 3ish hours it took to read Ernest's captivating descriptions of one John Keene and his adventures. I cannot reccomend this book enough, both to my friends and strangers on the internet.
May 2, 2023
Wish I could’ve given it a 3.75 rating. It’s a good read, but doesn’t have the great character development, nor the visceral feel of the country many of Haycox’s best books have. For that you need to read Canyon Passage, Alder Gulch, Stage to Lordsburg, The Earthbreakers, or Bugles in the Afternoon.
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October 30, 2009Southwest
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews