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Utah Blaine
Colonel Utah Blaine, held captive by the Army of the Revolution, broke out of jail and headed north from Mexico with nothing but the clothes on his back. Then he found new trouble struggling at the end of a noose–and stepped in just in time to save the life of a Texas rancher. The would-be executioners were the rancher’s own men, looking to steal his land.Now Utah has a unique Have the wealthy Texan play dead, introduce himself as the spread’s new foreman, and take care of the outlaws one by one. The wage to fight another man’s war? A hundred a month plus expenses. The cost of falling in love while he earns that wage? It wasn’t exactly part of the original agreement, but Utah will soon find out–unless the bad guys get to him first.
240 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 1954
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 191 reviews
November 19, 2025
"[Blaine] felt it, the old driving, the surge of fury that came with the fight, the old berserk feeling of the warrior facing great odds. Suddenly doubt and fear and waiting were shed from him, and in that moment he was what he had been created for: a fighting man - a fighting man alone, facing great odds, and fighting for the things he valued." -- the titular hero, in a moment of clarity, on page 160
The protagonist of this early L'Amour work, just the 10th novel in the author's prolific career, is a man with of bit of other fictional heroes and antiheroes - such as John Rambo, Robin Hood, and even the X-Men's Wolverine - in his genetic constitution. A former soldier and trail boss (the buckaroo who supervises a cattle drive) with a feared reputation as a gunslinger, the sturdy and two-fisted Michael 'Utah' Blaine is a loner wandering the Arizona Territory of the 1870's. Moments after an attempting lynching he saves the abandoned would-be victim, the owner of a large plot of land and a herd of cattle. Blaine soon finds himself named as the new hombre in charge of the '46 Connected' brand by the grateful man. However, that's just the beginning of Blaine's new problems as the various venal land and livestock owners in the burgeoning Red Creek region are at war - with allegiances shifting by the hour or dollar amount - for gaining control of the area's vast and valuable grazing properties, often by any means necessary. Blaine quickly gathers a motley but tenacious crew of locals - such as the wonderfully monikered Rip Coker, who serves as instant trusty sidekick material and is no slouch as a triggerman - to defend / preserve this unexpected new responsibility. The result is a solid but surprisingly violent (though not graphically so) little paperback - this probably has the highest bullet wound and/or body count in any of the countless L'Amour western/frontier stories that I've read thus far - for a book published during the sometimes sanitized mid-1950's era.
The protagonist of this early L'Amour work, just the 10th novel in the author's prolific career, is a man with of bit of other fictional heroes and antiheroes - such as John Rambo, Robin Hood, and even the X-Men's Wolverine - in his genetic constitution. A former soldier and trail boss (the buckaroo who supervises a cattle drive) with a feared reputation as a gunslinger, the sturdy and two-fisted Michael 'Utah' Blaine is a loner wandering the Arizona Territory of the 1870's. Moments after an attempting lynching he saves the abandoned would-be victim, the owner of a large plot of land and a herd of cattle. Blaine soon finds himself named as the new hombre in charge of the '46 Connected' brand by the grateful man. However, that's just the beginning of Blaine's new problems as the various venal land and livestock owners in the burgeoning Red Creek region are at war - with allegiances shifting by the hour or dollar amount - for gaining control of the area's vast and valuable grazing properties, often by any means necessary. Blaine quickly gathers a motley but tenacious crew of locals - such as the wonderfully monikered Rip Coker, who serves as instant trusty sidekick material and is no slouch as a triggerman - to defend / preserve this unexpected new responsibility. The result is a solid but surprisingly violent (though not graphically so) little paperback - this probably has the highest bullet wound and/or body count in any of the countless L'Amour western/frontier stories that I've read thus far - for a book published during the sometimes sanitized mid-1950's era.
February 6, 2022
Recommended by Kevin Bauder. I don't know if I've ever read a L'Amour book; I'm not *certain* I've even read a western. What really grabbed me here was the author's intimate knowledge of the topography/flora/fauna/feel and, apparently, culture of the old west. I also found myself wondering about the ethics of the era: what if there really is no law to speak of in a given locale, or the government exists only notionally? What kind of character does that call forth from a good man? What kind of decisions? I enjoyed this book and did see the titular character as laudable.
The book also made me think of Proverbs 1. You never know what surprise God has in store for people who lie in wait to steal from the innocent. Maybe there will be a good man resting in the dark nearby who will stand up to them…
The book also made me think of Proverbs 1. You never know what surprise God has in store for people who lie in wait to steal from the innocent. Maybe there will be a good man resting in the dark nearby who will stand up to them…
January 29, 2009
I just tagged this one randomly because I remember particularly like this one. I've read most of his books and they are VERY light reading. (I can blitz through a L'Amour novel in about 1 1/2 hours and I'm not a fast reader.) I'll just say that all his books have a distinct charm about them, in large part because of his respect for nature ("you have to live with the desert, not against it"), old-fashioned sense of manliness and justice, and belief in the power of the individual to both be good and effect good. His characters are always paragons of self-education, self-discipline, and self-sacrifice and as such I always find them refreshing and inspiring.
September 12, 2015
This was my second L'Amour after To Tame a Land. I liked that one a bit more than this one but this was still fun. It concerns the titular Utah Blaine and his involvement in a complicated range war in Arizona. This novel instantly earned points with me for the Arizonan setting, as it's the state I've lived in my whole life. L'Amour certainly did the state justice with his lovely and succinct descriptions of the desert, if not quite at the hallucinatory heights of McCarthy's Blood Meridian, which contains some of the absolute best writing about the desert world I've ever laid eyes on.
It's pretty obvious why L'Amour is so popular; his writing is smooth and workmanlike, some of the least florid prose I've ever laid eyes on. The characters aren't complicated or challenging and you know the girl will be won and the bad guys shot to death or hung by the last page. If someone has a passing interest in the Old West and isn't expecting earth-shaking literary genius, they're probably gonna enjoy this. Utah is the quintessential stoic Western tough guy, a former colonel and this type of guy is always fun and some would probably argue also a necessary part of westerns. The way L'Amour got the plot rolling was hilariously contrived but I didn't really care.
Is there even a point to reviewing these individually? Usually I get disappointed when I see one-size-fits-all reviews being posted about several works by the same author but really, did this man ever surprise anyone? Furthermore, should he have? I don't think so--one needs these authors too; the reliable ones, the ones you're comfortable with. I find L'Amour comfortably reliable indeed so far, but I wouldn't want to binge on his books.
It's pretty obvious why L'Amour is so popular; his writing is smooth and workmanlike, some of the least florid prose I've ever laid eyes on. The characters aren't complicated or challenging and you know the girl will be won and the bad guys shot to death or hung by the last page. If someone has a passing interest in the Old West and isn't expecting earth-shaking literary genius, they're probably gonna enjoy this. Utah is the quintessential stoic Western tough guy, a former colonel and this type of guy is always fun and some would probably argue also a necessary part of westerns. The way L'Amour got the plot rolling was hilariously contrived but I didn't really care.
Is there even a point to reviewing these individually? Usually I get disappointed when I see one-size-fits-all reviews being posted about several works by the same author but really, did this man ever surprise anyone? Furthermore, should he have? I don't think so--one needs these authors too; the reliable ones, the ones you're comfortable with. I find L'Amour comfortably reliable indeed so far, but I wouldn't want to binge on his books.
March 16, 2020
Utah Blaine is a kind of Rambo figure: A lone macho with intuitive insight into human psychology and wide knowledge of his environment outwitting a bunch of land-grabbers as he basically carries on guerrilla warfare against them -- Old West style. Fistfights, gunfights, showdowns in saloons, swooning women worrying about him in danger, and at least one conversation with his horse as he slumps over his saddle bleeding from a gunshot wound he’s self-medicated with Native American herbalism (though it wasn’t called that at the time of the book’s writing) . The main theme driving this plot is greed and how it makes steady humans bad and unsteady humans evil. This isn’t literature because it does not really explore that theme, just uses it as a thru-line for the story. But the thru-line works and gives the novel integrity. It’s easy maybe to sneer at a 1950s pulp Western like this, and if I wanted to be mean I could dwell on shortcomings like its patronizing of women, but why be mean? It’s 70 years later. This book is from another century. Also it’s interesting to see how the book represents (or possibly informs) the American storytelling trope of an ambiguous hero single-handedly overcoming literally dozens of villains. Seriously, if they made a movie of this book Utah Blaine would be accused of ripping off Rambo, though the book predates that film by 30 years.
On an absolute scale this novel wouldn't rate so highly, but for what it's intended to be it definitely deserves three stars.
On an absolute scale this novel wouldn't rate so highly, but for what it's intended to be it definitely deserves three stars.
August 28, 2019
Utah Blaine starts right in the middle of the action - as Utah Blaine saves a large cattle ranch owner from being hanged.
The story doesn’t slow down for a second from this point on - it picks it up a couple of notches every few pages.
Utah Blaine is an expert gunslinger who is set to manage and protect a cattle ranch for a man he saved from being killed.
He runs into a huge opposition from the minute he shows up at the ranch, as most of the other ranchers teamed up and created a “thug group” that wanted nothing more than to kill the wealthy rancher, hoping to divide his ranch among themselves after he was dead.
Of course, Utah Blaine is there to stop this from happening, hoping to bring the thugs to justice rather than to kill them, or die trying.
Along the fighting, he falls in love and makes friends in the local, nearby town.
Another well researched story about life on the frontier, the upsides and downsides of being a wealthy rancher and the natural beauty of the wild west from a bygone era.
The story doesn’t slow down for a second from this point on - it picks it up a couple of notches every few pages.
Utah Blaine is an expert gunslinger who is set to manage and protect a cattle ranch for a man he saved from being killed.
He runs into a huge opposition from the minute he shows up at the ranch, as most of the other ranchers teamed up and created a “thug group” that wanted nothing more than to kill the wealthy rancher, hoping to divide his ranch among themselves after he was dead.
Of course, Utah Blaine is there to stop this from happening, hoping to bring the thugs to justice rather than to kill them, or die trying.
Along the fighting, he falls in love and makes friends in the local, nearby town.
Another well researched story about life on the frontier, the upsides and downsides of being a wealthy rancher and the natural beauty of the wild west from a bygone era.
August 18, 2008
I found this book in a dusty box in my parent's basement and started reading it only because I had nothing else. I decided that I'd read it since I was moving to Utah and that was in the title. In the end, I entirely enjoyed the book. I've read a few Louis L'amour but it's been a while. Utah Blaine is an action packed western about range wars and love. All these years and I didn't realize my dad was reading romances.
March 14, 2011
Louis L'amour is like comfort food in a book for me. I grew up reading his books and they are predictable--the good guy always wins, but not till he's been shot and gotten the girl. I love them though I tend to skip over the fist fight scenes. You can be assured that someone in his books will always be riding a zebra dun or a line backed dun and you always want to be "one to ride the river with"
September 7, 2015
One of my new favorite L'Amour books, "Utah Blaine" captures the reader's attention in the very first chapter. I listened to the book on cd, and the reader did an excellent job of reading this exciting western tale. If you enjoy a good western story like the ones heard around a campfire about good guys vs. bad guys with a heroic woman in the mix, this is a great choice! Utah Blaine, the main character, beats a comic strip super hero for me any day!
May 28, 2020
Popsugar Reading Challenge 2020: A Western
Although I read this for the challenge I actually enjoy reading westerns occasionally. I once read that they are romances written for men by men and that seems like a reasonable description of those I have read. This one wasn't my favorite. It read almost like a Shakespearean tragedy with practically everybody being killed, don't worry though our hero squeaked through, as well as a very few good cronies and of course his girl.
Although I read this for the challenge I actually enjoy reading westerns occasionally. I once read that they are romances written for men by men and that seems like a reasonable description of those I have read. This one wasn't my favorite. It read almost like a Shakespearean tragedy with practically everybody being killed, don't worry though our hero squeaked through, as well as a very few good cronies and of course his girl.
September 7, 2021
Living in our crazy world now where right is wrong and wrong is right, I needed to sink myself into a novel where good triumphs over evil and the bad guys don't get away with cheating, lying and murder. Utah Blaine delivered! Score one for the good guys!
The novel starts out with a nail-biting scene, and Louis L'Amour continues on crafting a great story. The narration was very enjoyable as well.
The novel starts out with a nail-biting scene, and Louis L'Amour continues on crafting a great story. The narration was very enjoyable as well.
November 12, 2020
Utah Blaine is an army officer captured by the Army of the Revolution. He escapes and rescues a rancher about to be lynched by his emp;loyees. For $10 a month, Blaine takes on the outlaws in the midst of a range war.
December 22, 2012
As always a good western can be found by reading Louis L'Amour. He writes in a way that makes you a part of the old frontier and appreciate the old ways.
It isn't a hard read, but it sure makes me want to read more of his books.
It isn't a hard read, but it sure makes me want to read more of his books.
August 25, 2019
Can't beat a good guy vs bad guy Western.
September 18, 2021
Utah Blaine is the typical mold of a gunfighter, escaping his past, looking to right his life. He stumbles upon a rancher being hung in the midst of a cattle range war. He saves the man, and offers to defend the rancher's land for a small portion of the range. It's a good ol' fashioned "group of bad ranchers killing off the good ranchers for their land" story. Louis L'Amour always paints a vibrant visual tale and gives the reader an entertaining read.
I found this story a little murky in parts, getting lost in the different cattle ranches and landmarks in the territory. There was even a map provided of the landscape and I found it sometimes difficult to follow 'who was where and how did they get there.' The cast of characters got a little complicated as different ranch-hands and hired guns would appear, sometimes just for a brief mention, only to be gunned down and eliminated. All the names made the story a bit confusing, but overall, a fun Western written by America's Storyteller. Recommended, but simply OK. Just my 2 cents
I found this story a little murky in parts, getting lost in the different cattle ranches and landmarks in the territory. There was even a map provided of the landscape and I found it sometimes difficult to follow 'who was where and how did they get there.' The cast of characters got a little complicated as different ranch-hands and hired guns would appear, sometimes just for a brief mention, only to be gunned down and eliminated. All the names made the story a bit confusing, but overall, a fun Western written by America's Storyteller. Recommended, but simply OK. Just my 2 cents
September 5, 2019
Just you don't get in that man's way; Michael "Utah" Blaine be like this unstoppable force. But when he saves an old man from a slow hanging, he sets into motion a bloody, all-out ranch war. It's like this: that old man, Joe Neal, owns 46 Connected, the most coveted range in the territory, and, when word spreads of his death, the other ranchers start circling' like vultures, raring' to snag themselves chunks of 46 Connected. The local newspaper editor's two cents: "All of them liked Joe, but they liked his range better." Heck of an epitaph.
What no one anticipated was for a stranger to ride into the nearby town of Red Creek, with the proper paperwork, and declare himself the new manager of 46 Connected, working for ol' Joe Neal. This understandably doesn't sit too well with them other ranchers, but word gets out, too, of who this manager hombre really is. Utah Blaine has got a reputation as a lighting'-fast pistolero who's reportedly killed twenty men, maybe thirty. One possible ally tells Utah: "Up there are about thirty land-hungry little ranchers. They are tougher'n boot leather, an' most of them have rustled a few head in their time." But even the most avaricious land grabber has got to tread lightly when going' up against "that hell-on-wheels gunman from the Nueces, the man who tamed Alta.".
But there's bound to be those braver than most. Or, if not braver, then bossing around enough gunmen of his own that he figures it's worth the risk. Else, this'd be a dull-a-- western yarn, and that's not how Louis L'Amour does things. UTAH BLAINE first published in 1954, and it's another rip roaring' narrative as brought to you by a storyteller who don't know nothing' else but deal in propulsive storytelling. In this instance, I also love how L'Amour sets things up mighty suspenseful, so that it's one man bucking crazy odds. I dig that there's often tossed in an extended sequence of brutal, primal hand-to-hand combat. This time, it's Utah wresaling' with a 6'8" behemoth. I tell you, you'll wince at every punishing hay maker thrown and landed by both parties.
Also present is the colorful jargon and the very quote able quotes. There's Utah's challenge to that 6'8" scrapper: "Come on, you big lug, stack your duds and grease your skids. I'm going' to tear down your meat house!" And there's the newspaper editor's warning to Utah: "When you ride onto 46 range, you ride alone." Oh, that gets my juices flowing.
When all's said and done, Utah Blaine will have littered the landscape with the corpses of those who'd went up against him. And maybe he will have romanced one of the lovely ladies to grace these pages. Is it Angela Kinyon, a girl home steading' on ol' Joe's ranch? Or Mary Blake who's taken over her father's ranch when her father was murdered. Fair warning, one of these gals is true-blue, but the other is sure looking' to be a femme fatale type. Ah, but which is which, do you reckon?
Most days, L'Amour and character development aren't much on speaking terms. L'Amour, instead, specializes in writing archetypal figures. I do have a favorite side character, and it's Rip Coker, that contrary ranch hand who likes bucking the odds and, so, sides with Utah. Right now, maybe he's regretting that.
What no one anticipated was for a stranger to ride into the nearby town of Red Creek, with the proper paperwork, and declare himself the new manager of 46 Connected, working for ol' Joe Neal. This understandably doesn't sit too well with them other ranchers, but word gets out, too, of who this manager hombre really is. Utah Blaine has got a reputation as a lighting'-fast pistolero who's reportedly killed twenty men, maybe thirty. One possible ally tells Utah: "Up there are about thirty land-hungry little ranchers. They are tougher'n boot leather, an' most of them have rustled a few head in their time." But even the most avaricious land grabber has got to tread lightly when going' up against "that hell-on-wheels gunman from the Nueces, the man who tamed Alta.".
But there's bound to be those braver than most. Or, if not braver, then bossing around enough gunmen of his own that he figures it's worth the risk. Else, this'd be a dull-a-- western yarn, and that's not how Louis L'Amour does things. UTAH BLAINE first published in 1954, and it's another rip roaring' narrative as brought to you by a storyteller who don't know nothing' else but deal in propulsive storytelling. In this instance, I also love how L'Amour sets things up mighty suspenseful, so that it's one man bucking crazy odds. I dig that there's often tossed in an extended sequence of brutal, primal hand-to-hand combat. This time, it's Utah wresaling' with a 6'8" behemoth. I tell you, you'll wince at every punishing hay maker thrown and landed by both parties.
Also present is the colorful jargon and the very quote able quotes. There's Utah's challenge to that 6'8" scrapper: "Come on, you big lug, stack your duds and grease your skids. I'm going' to tear down your meat house!" And there's the newspaper editor's warning to Utah: "When you ride onto 46 range, you ride alone." Oh, that gets my juices flowing.
When all's said and done, Utah Blaine will have littered the landscape with the corpses of those who'd went up against him. And maybe he will have romanced one of the lovely ladies to grace these pages. Is it Angela Kinyon, a girl home steading' on ol' Joe's ranch? Or Mary Blake who's taken over her father's ranch when her father was murdered. Fair warning, one of these gals is true-blue, but the other is sure looking' to be a femme fatale type. Ah, but which is which, do you reckon?
Most days, L'Amour and character development aren't much on speaking terms. L'Amour, instead, specializes in writing archetypal figures. I do have a favorite side character, and it's Rip Coker, that contrary ranch hand who likes bucking the odds and, so, sides with Utah. Right now, maybe he's regretting that.
January 20, 2012
This was my very first peek into this well beloved world of Louis L'Amour, and I was pleasantly surprised. While it was exactly what I anticipated...a very tough cowboy, alluring to the females, overcoming all sorts of obstacles, etc etc...the story and the action kept me reading and involved more than I'd thought I'd be. OK, I read it in one day. But it was a short one. Looks like I'll be back for more.
March 5, 2011
I liked it quite a bit. It took me a while to read because I could only read a couple minutes at a time waiting for my daughter to get off school. It follows the "legendary Utah Blaine" in ihs fight against a town full of killers who are after a large ranch property. At fisrt it seemed odd, the idea of a rancher almost handing over his ranch to a complete stranger. But as absurd as it sounds it paved the for a good book.
June 26, 2015
This is one of those books you need a program to keep up with everyone, their motives, as well as who they're for and against. Sheesh! I like Blaine. He has a strong sense of honor and justice. Even after , he stays true to his word where someone else might up and leave. A good and fast read, but I can't give it a full five stars for the kind of open-ended ending.
Coyer: Read a book that contains all the letters in the word BLUE ~ Utah Blaine (4 points)
Coyer: Read a book that contains all the letters in the word BLUE ~ Utah Blaine (4 points)
July 30, 2020
Just one of the long list of good ones
Louis L'Amour never wrote a bad book at least if he did I'd not read it yet. Cherokee Trail, Flint, law of the desert born, just a prolific talented writer the new and actually experienced most of the things he wrote about. They say write about what you know and he certainly did.
Louis L'Amour never wrote a bad book at least if he did I'd not read it yet. Cherokee Trail, Flint, law of the desert born, just a prolific talented writer the new and actually experienced most of the things he wrote about. They say write about what you know and he certainly did.
March 24, 2010
Really enjoyed this book. When I had read it I had just finished some heavy reading, so this was a fun and very light pallet cleanser indefinitely. Predictable? Of course. Worth reading? Every minute of the book.
Read
August 3, 2011Loved this western. The ending was a little bit hard to buy into. One man is shot eleven times and recovers. The hero takes three shots in the book from a professional gunslinger and recovers. But it was still a great western. One of L'Amour's better ones.
September 22, 2014
Formulaic and predictable. But I still enjoyed the $#@! out of it, as I always do, with L'amour's stuff.
February 17, 2023
My first Louis L'Amour novel; I wanted to read one after I enjoyed his memoir "Education of a Wandering Man" recently. If "Utah Blaine" is typical, I can see why L'Amour is such a popular writer. He immediately immerses the reader in a fast-moving, compulsive story of a Rambo-type character who rescues a big rancher about to be hanged and gets involved in a fight-to-the-death range war that was typical of the time. In his memoir, the author discussed how he researched locations on foot studying terrain, flora and fauna so that settings and all details would be authentic. They are exceptional in this book and even include a two-page map so readers can follow the movements of Utah and his adversaries. L'Amour's portrayal of the lawless times and customs regarding women and social order are fascinating. Even though I typically do not read Westerns, this was an entertaining and hard-to-put-down story.
August 27, 2025
3.5
Not alot of plot. Its a revenge against bad men, and everything you expect to happen happens. But the writing is direct and paints a dusty and bloody picture and thats what makes these stories so worth reading.
Not alot of plot. Its a revenge against bad men, and everything you expect to happen happens. But the writing is direct and paints a dusty and bloody picture and thats what makes these stories so worth reading.
December 27, 2024
at first i didn’t mind that all of louis l’amour’s western story’s had the same plot. i do now.
November 29, 2023
Yet another good Louis L'Amour western. The man really couldn't write a dull story.
Like many writers, he tended to be hard on his main characters. That is especially so in this story in which Utah Blain rescues a man from a lynching and then takes on a seemingly impossible task.
As the plot twists and turns, we get lots of action, do-or-die situations, multiple bad guys, fights with fists and guns, and some romance. All good stuff.
3.5 stars rounded up.
Like many writers, he tended to be hard on his main characters. That is especially so in this story in which Utah Blain rescues a man from a lynching and then takes on a seemingly impossible task.
As the plot twists and turns, we get lots of action, do-or-die situations, multiple bad guys, fights with fists and guns, and some romance. All good stuff.
3.5 stars rounded up.
August 14, 2025
never imagined i would enjoy a western. but life is full of suprises.
Want to read
October 22, 2019 I had to select an outside reading book for for my english class and I chose Utah Blaine, by Louis L'amour. It's a western tale of what ranches and land wars were like in the old west. Utah Blaine who is a gun fighter ends up mixed in a range war. He tries to help the underdog of the fight however he can.
The main character of the plot Utah is a hard man is not afraid to kill or stand for what he believes in. The story and themes were exciting and never very boring. It was one of those stories where you can imagine it while you are reading. One of the themes of the story could be fighting, it is always good to fight for what you believe in. The parts that I didn't like in the book is when everything is being introduced and figured out. It was just a very long process and a little bit complex. The book was very good all around and I didn't find it boring. There was a lot of action and violence, but that is what you should expect if there is a “war”. It is one of your typical western novels. Action, violence, and romance. The book was very realistic. One thing I don't like about unrealistic books is they trey to make sound like the things that they do are possible. This book wasn't like that, and that made to book a lot better. You could say Utah is the chosen one because he just happens to be in the right place at the right time. But no, that's not how it goes. Utah is just a genuinely nice person that thinks he should help someone that is being pushed around like the character in the book was.
Obviously like any fiction hero story the hero always wins. I like how in the story he barely wins it it was very hard for him. I would probably recommend this book to people that are interested in action books have detail and will get you hooked very fast. Probably someone who is not a super high level of reading but can understand language and words. The book was only 150 pages so a good amount for the person i recommended. Also another thing I really liked about the book is the fact that it was so fast moving. And also even though you wouldn't think it it shifts to other characters point of views, but only when the main character is away. I would rate the book a 8.5/10 and I definitely recommend you read this for the reasons I mentioned above. The book was very good, and if you read this book you'll read more by the author because he is a very good author.
The main character of the plot Utah is a hard man is not afraid to kill or stand for what he believes in. The story and themes were exciting and never very boring. It was one of those stories where you can imagine it while you are reading. One of the themes of the story could be fighting, it is always good to fight for what you believe in. The parts that I didn't like in the book is when everything is being introduced and figured out. It was just a very long process and a little bit complex. The book was very good all around and I didn't find it boring. There was a lot of action and violence, but that is what you should expect if there is a “war”. It is one of your typical western novels. Action, violence, and romance. The book was very realistic. One thing I don't like about unrealistic books is they trey to make sound like the things that they do are possible. This book wasn't like that, and that made to book a lot better. You could say Utah is the chosen one because he just happens to be in the right place at the right time. But no, that's not how it goes. Utah is just a genuinely nice person that thinks he should help someone that is being pushed around like the character in the book was.
Obviously like any fiction hero story the hero always wins. I like how in the story he barely wins it it was very hard for him. I would probably recommend this book to people that are interested in action books have detail and will get you hooked very fast. Probably someone who is not a super high level of reading but can understand language and words. The book was only 150 pages so a good amount for the person i recommended. Also another thing I really liked about the book is the fact that it was so fast moving. And also even though you wouldn't think it it shifts to other characters point of views, but only when the main character is away. I would rate the book a 8.5/10 and I definitely recommend you read this for the reasons I mentioned above. The book was very good, and if you read this book you'll read more by the author because he is a very good author.
September 7, 2024
"What was there in such men that made them live? What deep well of stamina and nerve supplied them? Coker had been deadly, very deadly, but at his worst he was but a pale shadow of the man known as Utah Blaine. In that brief instant with his hand on the door knob, Ben Otten saw those green, hard eyes and felt a twinge of fear. A little shiver passed through all his muscles and he felt like a man stepping over his own grave."
In this early L'Amour western, "Utah Blaine" (1954) is a legendary gunfighter and cattle foreman who is afoot in Arizona when he comes across some double-crossing vigilantes hanging a cattle boss. After saving him, Blaine is hired by the old boss to work on his ranch, figure out what these vigilantes are up to, and save his outfit.
Instead of the usual L'Amour style of introducing a protagonist and have him meet the various players in a western conflict with vague or unknown motives and a slow churn, "Utah Blaine" quickly throws us into the opening shots of a full-blown range war between four big ranches - the old boss's 46 Consolidated, the young woman's B-Bar, the brute's Big N, and the unstable wild card's Table Mountain - and their underlings, some siding with the vigilantes trying to divy up the 46 and B-Bar and some siding with the old boss's hired man Blaine.
Verdict: Among the best of the L'Amour's I've read, this with an early pulp western edge to it, lighter but epic in its focused scale with great characters and stakes, a smart romantic side-story that actually works and adds to the tension, and immersive manhunt/survival sequences that hit hard, but with some admittedly spotty pacing at times that had me rereading parts trying to figure out what happened. L'Amour gets better but "Utah Blaine" is a wild and terrific western.
Jeff's Rating: 5 / 5 (Great)
movie rating if made into a movie: PG
In this early L'Amour western, "Utah Blaine" (1954) is a legendary gunfighter and cattle foreman who is afoot in Arizona when he comes across some double-crossing vigilantes hanging a cattle boss. After saving him, Blaine is hired by the old boss to work on his ranch, figure out what these vigilantes are up to, and save his outfit.
Instead of the usual L'Amour style of introducing a protagonist and have him meet the various players in a western conflict with vague or unknown motives and a slow churn, "Utah Blaine" quickly throws us into the opening shots of a full-blown range war between four big ranches - the old boss's 46 Consolidated, the young woman's B-Bar, the brute's Big N, and the unstable wild card's Table Mountain - and their underlings, some siding with the vigilantes trying to divy up the 46 and B-Bar and some siding with the old boss's hired man Blaine.
Verdict: Among the best of the L'Amour's I've read, this with an early pulp western edge to it, lighter but epic in its focused scale with great characters and stakes, a smart romantic side-story that actually works and adds to the tension, and immersive manhunt/survival sequences that hit hard, but with some admittedly spotty pacing at times that had me rereading parts trying to figure out what happened. L'Amour gets better but "Utah Blaine" is a wild and terrific western.
Jeff's Rating: 5 / 5 (Great)
movie rating if made into a movie: PG
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