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51 of 55 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Review of Appalosa by Robert B. Parker, June 22, 2005
This review is from: Appaloosa (Hardcover)
Robert B. Parker has offered a western written in his usual fast paced, clipped writing style that is highly engaging and entertaining. While not a literary masterpiece, Parker does an excellent job of creating unique fascinating characters, providing subtle insights into them, and posing ethical dilemmas that his characters work out using their own internal moral structure.
Appaloosa introduces us to two marauding law men - Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch. The story is told in the first person from the point of view of Hitch, who plays second fiddle to Cole, a seasoned and dangerous gunman. Cole and Hitch are hired by the aldermen of Appaloosa, a town that is being terrorized by a nefarious rancher named Randall Bragg. Bragg and his men murder the previous Marshal and now take whatever they want from the town - be it whiskey, food, or women. Cole and Hitch are hired to put an end to town's suffering. They eventually arrest Bragg for the murder and once convicted help transport him to be hung. Not surprisingly, Bragg escapes with the help of some hired gunmen, two brothers who even Cole is apprehensive of. This leads to, of course, a gun fight between the two sides. Through all this, Cole has fallen for a deeply flawed and dangerous woman, Ms. French, who he refuses to leave despite her treacherous ways. This sets up more drama at the novel's conclusion.
While this western follows a similar plot line as many novels in its genre, and there is nothing really new or unique here, it does have some distinguishing characteristics. First, it's clear that Cole and Hitch walk a fine line between being law abiding citizens and simply assassins, and it's a line they may have crossed in the past, and seem to be in constant danger of crossing in the novel. First and foremost they are hired guns with the cloak of legality and they set their ethical parameters to meet whatever moral code they have constructed for themselves. Secondly, the character of Ms. French introduces a great dilemma in the novel for Cole - and for Hitch - which is very cleverly wrapped up in the novel's conclusion.
This was very entertaining and fast paced novel for a lazy afternoon of reading.
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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
On the Stretch, July 1, 2005
This review is from: Appaloosa (Hardcover)
As I've written before, it's always good to get Parker off of autopilot, out of Boston and put him on a slight stretch. Under those conditions you see his real skills as a writer. In a different time and a different setting he is forced to develop a sense of place, a sense of language and a sense of character and he's always up to the task. There's no feeling of exaggeration, with heavyhanded indications that he's now in his 'western mode'. The people, places, language, and attentiveness to nuance are all spot on. As in all good genre writing there is a faithfulness to expectation. The plot is traditional--the nasty, tyrannical, lawless rancher vs. the hapless townfolk, who bring in the hired guns--and there are nice set pieces (a tracking scene across great distances, ruminations on gender relationships in the old west, some local color and historical authenticity with a Kiowa brave counting coup). My only reservation concerns the ending, which comes a little too quickly, a little too neatly, and is a tad short on blood, gore, and justice/vengeance. Nevertheless, this is a strong western, at least the equal of its predecessor and top summer reading.
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19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Thoughtful, melancholy western but also funny & exciting, June 28, 2005
This review is from: Appaloosa (Hardcover)
"Appaloosa" is a quick, involving, but thoughtful reading experience. The characters and situations can be taken on their own terms as exciting story elements, but also as metaphors for old time America making way, for better or worse, for a new America.
It is also very interesting to see Mr. Parker put a new spin on his frequent theme of personal codes and how they make the man: namely, it examines what can happen when a violent but law-abiding sheriff (a guy who is an expert killer but who will kill only when the law says it is okay for him to do so), goes head to head with a rich sociopath who is able to buy the law and make it work to his own advantage.
In the end, one character makes a decision and a sacrifice that allows the old ways to go on a little longer, but it's clear that the victory is a temporary one, and that the slow encroachment of new America- a place of many comforts and benefits, but also a place where wealth often speaks louder than justice- was only temporarily slowed down.
Like "Gunman's Rhapsody" (another western) and "Double Play", this is another of the occasional novels Mr. Parker writes that do not feature any of his popular continuing detective characters. And like all Mr. Parker's novels- the ones that feature continuing characters and the ones that don't- this one is well worth your time.
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