The Burning Hills [Paperback]

Louis L'Amour (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 150 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (1977)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553108298
• ISBN-13: 978-0553108293
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,541,011 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

"I think of myself in the oral tradition--as a troubadour, a village tale-teller, the man in the shadows of a campfire. That's the way I'd like to be remembered--as a storyteller. A good storyteller."

It is doubtful that any author could be as at home in the world re-created in his novels as Louis Dearborn L'Amour. Not only could he physically fill the boots of the rugged characters he wrote about, but he literally "walked the land my characters walk." His personal experiences as well as his lifelong devotion to historical research combined to give Mr. L'Amour the unique knowledge and understanding of people, events, and the challenge of the American frontier that became the hallmarks of his popularity.

Of French-Irish descent, Mr. L'Amour could trace his own in North America back to the early 1600s and follow their steady progression westward, "always on the frontier." As a boy growing up in Jamestown, North Dakota, he absorbed all he could about his family's frontier heritage, including the story of his great-grandfather who was scalped by Sioux warriors.

Spurred by an eager curiosity and desire to broaden his horizons, Mr. L'Amour left home at the age of fifteen and enjoyed a wide variety of jobs, including seaman, lumberjack, elephant handler, skinner of dead cattle, and miner, and was an officer in the transportation corps during World War II. During his "yondering" days he also circled the world on a freighter, sailed a dhow on the Red Sea, was shipwrecked in the West Indies and stranded in the Mojave Desert. He won fifty-one of fifty-nine fights as a professional boxer and worked as a journalist and lecturer. He was a voracious reader and collector of rare books. His personal library contained 17,000 volumes.

Mr. L'Amour "wanted to write almost from the time I could talk." After developing a widespread following for his many frontiers and adventure stories written for fiction magazines, Mr. L'Amour published his first full length novel, Hondo, in the United States in 1953. Every one of his more than 120 books is in print; there are more than 300 million copies of his books in print worldwide, making him one of the bestselling authors in modern literary history. His books have been translated into twenty languages, and more than forty-five of his novels and stories have been made into feature films and television movies.

The recipient of many great honor and awards, in 1983 Mr. L'Amour became the first novelist to ever to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by the United States Congress in honor of his life's work. In 1984 he was also awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Reagan.

Louis L'Amour died on June 10, 1988. His wife, Kathy, and their two children, Beau and Angelique, carry the L'Amour publishing tradition forward with new books written by the author during his lifetime to be published by Bantam.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ONE OF THE EARLY L'AMOUR NOVELS, BUT ONE OF THE BETTER ONES., August 27, 2008

By 

Kay's Husband (Virginia, U.S.A.) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Burning Hills: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

THE BURNING HILLS was released in August, 1956, after both HONDO and GUNS OF THE TIMBERLANDS and offers excellent example of the early western writings of Louis L'Amour. Yet, for me, the book remains one of the better novels Mr. L'Amour wrote.

The main protagonist, Trace Jordan, a horse trapper has been forced to kill a man. Suffering an incapacitating wound and hunted by a posse including an able tracker, Trace Jordan requires the essential help and care of the woman named Maria Cristina. She is a wonderful central female character, one as untamed as any in western literature, and one of the better ones Louis L'Amour ever brought to life.

Another strong character in this book is Jacob Lantz, a "Dutch-Indian" tracker who could and did trail renegade Apaches successfully. A man who truly enjoyed his work very much, and his professionalism equaled his enjoyment. Jacob was the son of a Dutch trader, his mother a Ute squaw, and it was stated Lantz tracked with his "mind as well as his senses". Trace Jordan is both a wounded and trapped man and only the mercy of Maria Christina can help save him--for Jacob Lantz certainly means not to.

A movie based on this book was later made too but as usual it fell far short of reaching the drama and tension present in Louis L'Amour's written novel. Should you enjoy Louis L'Amour books, especially early L'Amour books, consider this short book as it will offer a few hours of solid reading. And after this one you only have 110 or so books of his left to read!

Though Louis L'Amour died in June, 1988, he left us many worthy books to read and re-read. Grab one pardner while they are yet available.

Semper Fi.

5.0 out of 5 stars Older L'Amour work. Great small novel the hunted becomes the hunter. Saves pretty girl, January 22, 2012

By 

Thomas Erickson (Lutz Fl and Felt Oklahoma) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Burning Hills (The Louis L'Amour Collection) (Leather Bound)

I'm a big fan of the late Louis L'Amour, one of America's great authors. I've read 21 of his Western novels, dozens of his short stories, 5 non western novels and his first book....poems. One of my favorite authors. All of his works I've read so far are 5 or 4 stars. See my reviews.

The Burning Hills was one of his earlier works and one of the better ones of his I've read. Lots of action and good scenery description.
We see Trace Jordan and his friend having the Mustang horses they found and collected stolen and his friend killed. Trace kills one of the men responsible and a posse comes to kill him. We see them hunting him with an expert tracker. Trace comes across a beautiful Mexican woman that he eventually falls in love with but she is a wildcat and needs tender training and a loving hand.

Eventually after she gives him food and cleans his wound and Trace has time to recuperate a little from being shot, he becomes the hunter of the men hunting him. Lots of gunfighting and survival scenes. I won't say too much and ruin the story for you. Another great Western by INMO one of America's great authors and THE best Western author Louis L'Amour. Rated 5 stars

5.0 out of 5 stars A top western book, September 17, 2008

By 

Latour07 (Paris, France) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Burning Hills: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

This book and all those that Louis L'Amour wrote are remarkable. The passionate abandon western films they find quickly fades in light of the writings of this herald the far west. L'Amour is a great author of the classic genre. I have read and reread all his books.