Showdown Trail / Riders of the Dawn

by Louis L'Amour

Two Gunswift Novels of the Old West by Louis L'Amour - The Complete Original Versions. "Showdown Trail" Rock Bannon was a killer and a hero. All the settlers understood was that he was a killer, and where they came from killing was wrong and justice left to the police. So Rock's warnings of peril fell on deaf ears and the settlers forged onward, lured toward certain destruction by a glowing promise of a cheap rangeland paradise that didn't exist. Then Mort Harper, the worst killer in the territory took Roc Bannon's fiancee, and Rock came to get her. "Riders of the Dawn" When Matt Sabre from Dodge, once Marshal of Mobettle, known as "the Mongollon gunfighter," ambled down from the high blue hills into Hattan's Point he planned to amble out again. But when he looked into the cool black eyes of Olga Maclaren and found both sides in a range war were about to make a power grab for the smallest ranch in the valley because it had biggest source of water, Sabre knew he had to stay. He planned to marry the one and help save the other.

Genres: Westerns

202 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 16, 2021

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

[Cindy B.]

Clean, has substance, well plotted, and an entertaining narration. Substance is character and morality. When the world’s crazy, I read these types of stories and the world is even-keeled again. And, if your children can read this (vocabulary) they have a good start on real education.

[Jim]

A Drifter shows his Spurs

Louis L'AMOUR is a master storyteller. In both the tales the protagonist is a drifter and a killer, who rides well and draws a gun with lightning speed. He had a horse and a saddle, a ready gun and a mind filled with lore of the trail. In Showdown Trail our drifter, Rock Bannon, joins a wagon train persuaded to take a new route by a lowlife hoping to get rich. In Riders of the Dawn, our drifter the cocky Matt Sabre rides into a new town proposes to the town's belle before being beaten up by her beau, a mean mountain of a man. There is conflict over three ranches one of which Sabre inherits from the newly deceased owner. A lot of fighting follows with guns, fists and even spurs. Of the two stories I preferred Showdown Trail.

[Abigail]

Rock Bannon was sexy

[Quasimode]

[N.B.: This refers only to "Showdown Trail" - I haven't yet read "Riders of the Dawn."]
It turns out this is a novella so I should've expected as much but... a good solid plot but it needed more fleshing-out to be a full-blown L'Amour novel.

So... it's entertaining, and the transport back to "a better vanished time" (as Mr. Peart's famous lyric line goes,) is always a worthwhile thing, but it has too shallow and rushed a feel to it.

[Delonna Oskouee]

After wasting my time reading a little Zane Grey

I thoroughly enjoyed both "Showd isown Trail" and "Riders of the Dawn". Louis L'Amour is a wonderful writer and I like his style and his voice. His plots are thick and he keeps me on my toes trying to figure out what is going to happen next.

[Jim Johnson]

The Master Western Storyteller

L’Amour is the master at telling the western story of good vs evil with romance thrown into the mix. I have read almost all of his books and know that I won’t get out of place crude sexual innuendos like some of the current western writers are using nowadays.
He is the best.

[Tommy Adams]

showdown trail and riders of the Dawn

A great book had two books enjoyed both a lot of action there was always something going on I have always loved Louis l’Amour books when I read them it is like I am I the story thanks Tommy A.

[Robert R. Graff]

Great story. Don't know how Louis could make it any better.

Great characters and a good plot. True western stories. Cowboys, cows, ranchers and their families make great reads. All in the background of a frontier town

[Braddock Mike]

2 Novels bybLouis L’Amour

Two page turning, action western stories filled with action, love and justice. Fun time reading them both. Surprise ending in one, but the reader should not be to surprised.

[Roy Clough]

I have never been a big Louis L'Amour fan, however I enjoyed reading Showdown Trail and would give that book a four-star rating. Riders of the Dawn lacked a likeable main character. He provoked fights and took unnecessary risks. I would rate this book one to two stars.

[Frank flavin]

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[Bill Royer]

Action


Lots of action. Good charters, beleivable. Real characters.
You can feel people in both novels. Even the horses are real.

[Embree Hulsey]

Two really good ones

Read these two books for the third time. They were better than ever. I'm glad Amazon presented them like this.