Louis L’Amour

Ok, I’m not much into westerns.  Don’t get me wrong, every single Clint Eastwood western rocks (especially Hang ‘em High and Unforgiven, even Two Mules for Sister Sara) but book wise, I’ve never been interested……until I actually picked up a Louis L’Amour novel and basically read it straight through.  A few years ago when my girlfriend and I decided to visit my parents at camp during the most rain filled weekend in the summer, bored out of my mind I picked up a leather bound Louis L’Amour novel titled Shalako.  I have to admit that I was instantly hooked.  The story was fast paced, character driven with excellent dialogue and basically right deadly.  Shalako, the book’s main character, stumbles upon a stranded European hunting party in the desert about to be overwhelmed and killed by Apaches.  Through Shalako’s intervention the party survives and Shalako finds himself positioned as the group’s protector and leader as he tries to navigate them back to safety.  Since, I have read numerous more L’Amour westerns and honestly, the stuff is really good.  They are almost all fast reads which can be read in a sitting and ideal for camping or travelling (especially for those lovely rainy days).  WORD!!