Customer Reviews

The Broken Gun (Thorndike Western I)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

According to Louis L'Amour's book 'The Broken Gun' a massacre of 27 innocent men with their cattle herd stolen happened 90 years ago. The time setting of this book is 90 later as page 51 states: "This is not the nineteenth century, the day of the rustler and gun-fighter; this was the day of satellites and moon voyages."

This book has Louis straddling both the 19th and 20th centuries, with the hero, Dan Sheridan, living out his life a few years after the Korean conflict. Part of the experience and knowledge from that armed conflict will help him and another man with whom he served in Korea face the people now trying to kill both of them. Since Louis taught survival courses during his years in the Army, much of that survival training is embedded in this story taking place in the Verde River Valley, Yavapai County, Arizona. This is an area laying just east of Phoenix, Arizona.

The narrative continually swings back and forth from the present to the year 1872 when two men, Clyde and John Toomey, met their murderous ends. Decendents of the people who bushwhacked the Toomeys now without deed live on the land they stole from the Toomeys. In the process of writing his book, author Dan Sheridan seeks not only to save several lives in this outdoor adventure, but also seeks justice for the 27 men killed 90 years previous, by seeing the rightful heirs get their property back.

Within this story a Bisley colt has part of a diary in the barrel of the gun, and this helps get Dan Sheridan's interest, plus it gives him information about the Toomeys. This is interesting to me too, for in a 1937 William Colt MacDonald story published in Western Story Magazine (3/6/37), entitled "Skelton Gold", a Texas wrangler buys an old .45 in Paso City with a map to hidden treasure in the barrel. Is this only a coincidence? Was Louis familiar with this short story?

If you are a western fan in general, or a Louis L'Amour fan in specific you will find much in this book to enjoy.

Sempter Fi.

Louis L`amour writes in a manner that places you in the story and holds your attention, you just can`t put it down untill you have read the entire book. Then it draws you back to read it again and again. You read of a man in the desert and you get thirsty. I have been reading L`amour books since about the age of seven and have read them untill the covers fall off and the pages crumble. I have allways wanted to meet Louis L`amour but never had the opportunity. All I can realy say is there shall never be another. May the legacy of Louis L`amour as the worlds greatest story teller live forever.

THE BROKEN GUN combines the best of the Old West and the New as Dan Sheridan, a western historian and author, seeks to solve a ninety-year-old western mystery. Finding several pages of an old journal, rolled up and stuffed in the barrel of a broken gun, a Bisley Colt, Sheridan seeks to uncover the secrets spoken of in the journal. As he proceeds he finds that the account deals with events that, while seemingly forgotten and settled history, have spilled over into the present with frightening consequences.

Louis L'Amour's THE BROKEN GUN is a sensational read that reminds us that, in the West, some things change while others remain alarmingly the same.

THE HORSEMAN

this is the first L.L. book i had read now ive read about 3/4 of them and im only 11 he is a great author

This 1966 novel is unusual ,but not unique ,in L'Amour's work in having a then contemporary setting .Its hero is Jim Sheridan a Western novelist ,a veteran of both Korea and Vietnam,who discovers then eponymous gun and more importantly a portion of a diary concealed inside it.The diary dates fromthe 1870's and is partial account of a trail drive from Texas to Arizona .At the end of the drive the cattle owners,John and Clyde Toomey, had simply vanished along with 27 men and 4000 head of cattle.Sheridan has always been fascinated by the Toomey case and sets out for Arizona to do further research in the hope of turning it into a novel.He makes no secret of his intention to do so.

A man named Manuel Alvarez sends Jim a note saying he has information that might help but is murdered before he can pass this on.Not only that but one of his brothers has died in mysterious circumstances and Pio his other brother,a skilled guerilla fighter ,has gone into hiding .

Also involved is a powerful local rancher Colin Wells who is keen to get his hands on the diary to prevent the exposure of a family scandal and who does not scruple to try to kill Jim when he cannot buy him off.Jim and Pio join forces against Wlls and his henchmen.

The book is in essence a traditional Western with a land dispute plot that has served in several genre titles but L'Amour has tried to give it a contemporary twist which does not quite cut it for my taste .The women -Wells' calculating wife Doris and his neighbour whose land he covets,Belle,are particularly sketchilly done .

Its a tad Rambo-ish in places when Jim and Pio display their militarily honed fighting skills

The book is a solid read but the auithor was at his best when at his most ;raditional in Western settings and eras This is not his best but a reasonable quick read for action lovers all the same

1st of L.L'amour's book I ever read in th 1980's. Now, I am an addict to his books,reading some as many as 10 times!!

Dan Sheridan buys an old broken gun in a pawn shop and finds part of a ninety year old journal wrapped up and stuck inside the barrel. He is a writer and decides to look into the story of the Toomey brothers. The only trouble is that the people who own the land now have a secret, and it is a secret that they are prepared to kill for. Soon Dan finds himself on the run, hunted through what once once Apache country. Only his pursuers don't realize that he is no city boy. He was born and raised on a ranch and served in Korea and Vietnam. Now as the deadly cat and mouse game plays out there is a large ranch and the life of a beautiful woman at stake.

When I was 13 years old I discovered Louis L'Amour. I read every book I could get my hands on. It has been a long time since I read one of his books. The Broken Gun reminded me why I loved him so much. You have the classic tough guy. The women in L'Amour are no shrinking violets. They are tough as the land that they come from. Of course you couldn't really have a L'Amour book without one good knock-down drag-out fist fight. This is a lot of fun

This book has been explained in the other reviews so I only want to say how much I enjoyed it. I thought it was a fast-paced adventure with a great story. I love it when the bad guys grossly underestimate the hero. Dan Sheridan was no greenhorn. I love the survivor skills he and Pio Alvarez used through out the story. Love it when the big brute gets his comeuppance.

Enjoy most L'Amour stories, but this was just repetitious. 4 CD set which could have been 3 - probably same with the book. Last CD was a lot crammed in.

This isn't L'Amours worst novel but it doesn't miss by much, that honor belongs to Utah Blaine, this story is the same thing over and over, the good guy gets caught by the bad guys but then he gets away time after time, save your time read something else.