Elmore Leonard's Western Roundup #1: Bounty Hunters, Forty Lashes Less One, and Gunsights [Paperback]

Elmore Leonard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 13, 1998

Bounty Hunters: He is a legend in the rugged Arizona Territory--a U.S. cavalry-turned-army scout--and the only man alive who can bring in the fierce Mimbre Apache called Soldado Viejo. But for David Flynn, tracking down an elusive Indian with a price on his head south of the border is a dangerous business...especially when a cunning outlaw and a murderous bounty hunter dog his path. Now Flynn's riding hard for trouble on a bloody trail of treachery and slaughter in a lawless land where a man's got to watch his back against friend and enemy, red man and white man alike. And if he's Flynn--on the deadliest mission of his career--that means a one-way trip into a sultry desert hell...where the hunter is about to become the hunted...and where one man's struggle for justice has just erupted in the battle of his life....

Forty Lashes Less One: A hellhole like Yuma Prison does all sorts of things to a man. Mostly it makes him want to escape. For two men facing life sentences--Harold Jackson, the only black man behind the walls, and Raymond San Carlos, an Apache halfbreed--a breakout seemed nigh on impossible. That is, until the law gave them two choices: rot in a cell, or track down and bring back the five most ruthless men in Arizona.

Gunsights: Brendan Early and Dana Moon. They were always something to see; real professionals, two of the toughest characters any man ever aimed a gun at. Sure they spent half their time feuding. But once there was the smell of guns and maybe a hint of glory in the air, they teamed up--armed to the teeth to grin down to trouble. Now they were holed up on an Arizona mountain with a copper war primed to explode in their faces. Early and Moon, together they fought through hell. Now they've got a fight to the finish.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

When Elmore Leonard was just starting out as a writer, a man could make a living writing Westerns, especially if he was good at it--and Elmore Leonard was one of the best. In his Western novels, you can see the earliest traces of themes that would emerge in his contemporary crime novels. Although sheriffs and cavalry men look a little different than cops and G-men, Leonard's outlaws, bounty hunters, and mercenaries are the same in both worlds: tough and determined because they know that their lives depend on presence of mind and skillful execution of the task at hand, as The Bounty Hunters and Gunsights reveal. And Leonard's prose is even more stripped down than usual, reduced to the bare essentials of plot and character. The reader's told exactly what he or she needs to know, and not one bit of information more.

Of the three novels reprinted here (plus the other five in Western Roundup #2 and Western Roundup #3), Forty Lashes Less One is something of an anomaly. It's set in the Yuma Territorial Prison, sure, but the year is 1909. Eventually, it becomes clear that what we're dealing with here is actually a prison-break novel in which at least half a dozen factions are playing off each other, with two men at the center: Harold Jackson and Raymond San Carlos, the only two nonwhite convicts, who get put through a grueling physical regimen by a missionary warden who thinks it'll help them develop self-esteem. With its multiple perspectives and serpentine plot twists, this is ultimately as good an escape story as Out of Sight--if not better. --Ron Hogan

From the Inside Flap

Bounty Hunters: He is a legend in the rugged Arizona Territory--a U.S. cavalry-turned-army scout--and the only man alive who can bring in the fierce Mimbre Apache called Soldado Viejo. But for David Flynn, tracking down an elusive Indian with a price on his head south of the border is a dangerous business...especially when a cunning outlaw and a murderous bounty hunter dog his path. Now Flynn's riding hard for trouble on a bloody trail of treachery and slaughter in a lawless land where a man's got to watch his back against friend and enemy, red man and white man alike. And if he's Flynn--on the deadliest mission of his career--that means a one-way trip into a sultry desert hell...where the hunter is about to become the hunted...and where one man's struggle for justice has just erupted in the battle of his life....

Forty Lashes Less One: A hellhole like Yuma Prison does all sorts of things to a man. Mostly it makes him want to escape. For two men facing life sentences--Harold Jackson, the only black man behind the walls, and Raymond San Carlos, an Apache halfbreed--a breakout seemed nigh on impossible. That is, until the law gave them two choices: rot in a cell, or track down and bring back the five most ruthless men in Arizona.

Gunsights: Brendan Early and Dana Moon. They were always something to see; real professionals, two of the toughest characters any man ever aimed a gun at. Sure they spent half their time feuding. But once there was the smell of guns and maybe a hint of glory in the air, they teamed up--armed to the teeth to grin down to trouble. Now they were holed up on an Arizona mountain with a copper war primed to explode in their faces. Early and Moon, together they fought through hell. Now they've got a fight to the finish.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Delta (October 13, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385333226
• ISBN-13: 978-0385333221
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #735,123 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Elmore Leonard has written more than forty novels, including bestsellers Up in Honey's Room, The Hot Kid, Mr. Paradise, Tishomingo Blues, Pagan Babies, and Glitz. Many of his books have been made into movies, including Get Shorty and Out of Sight. He lives with his wife, Christine, in Bloomfield Village, Michigan.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Early Elmore, July 21, 2004

By 

DJK ver 2.0 "Reader and Movie Buff" (Richardson, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Elmore Leonard's Western Round Up #1: The Bounty Hunters (Audio Cassette)

Elmore Leonard's 'The Bounty Hunters' is one of his first novels. As a western, it is a great tale of cowboys and Indians. Dave Flynn is a former soldier that has an ongoing dislike for a superior officer. This officer sends Flynn and a young lieutenant named Bowers into Mexico to track down Saldado, a rogue apache. From there, 'The Bounty Hunters' unfolds into an expansive western adventure.

Not only do Flynn and Bowers have to track down Saldado, they have to look over their shoulders for Frank Rellis, who Flynn showed up in the bar back in the States. Before Rellis left town, he shot one of Flynn's friends. As they venture into Mexico, they discover a scalper that is taking more than Apache scalps for bounties awarded in the village of Soyopa. Speaking of the village, it has its own problems with a missing family and a corrupt government. Along the way, Flynn finds a love interest.

This book is classic Leonard. It introduces many of the hallmarks that make Leonard novels so enjoyable. It also introduces some of the stock character types (the bad guy that isn't all there, his henchman that makes a turn for the good, the sidekick that comes into his own, etc.). The dialogue is also first rate, although some of the conversation about the apache is a bit generic. My only disappointment came in some of the action scenes that were not really clear as to what was happening.

I recommend this novel for any Leonard fan or fans of Westerns. Its good reading for a plane ride or if you are in need of something to do on a lazy afternoon. When you're done, check out Leonard's crime work.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Elmore Leonard always amazes, June 12, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Elmore Leonard's Western Roundup #1: Bounty Hunters, Forty Lashes Less One, and Gunsights (Paperback)

I have yet to figure out what it is about his writing, but Elmore Leonard creates characters that I cannot stop reading. I just can't put the book down once I start. It's a set of early Westerns that are a must-read for new Leonard fans. If you loved his more modern creations like Raylan Givens, Chili Palmer, and Ordell Robbie, give his older stuff a try. Maybe it'll even hook you on Westerns as a genre. Excellent stuff.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Leonard's early books almost equal his latest, September 25, 2002

By 

David W. Nicholas (Van Nuys, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Elmore Leonard's Western Roundup #1: Bounty Hunters, Forty Lashes Less One, and Gunsights (Paperback)

Elmore Leonard is an interesting author. He's been around since the '50s (the first book in the collection, The Bounty Hunters, was originally published in 1953) and is still as hip and cool as ever. He's also probably had more of his books turned into movies than any other man alive: at least six by my count, and I'm sure I'm missing some. This book is a collection of three of his earlier westerns, the above mentioned The Bounty Hunters, and Forty Lashes Less One and Gunsights. All three novels are recognisably Leonard: you could almost tell who wrote them without reading the author's name on the cover.

The Bounty Hunters has a typical Leonard plot. A cavalry scout and a green US army Lieutenant are sent into Mexico, incognito, to capture a renegade Apache. Complications set in when corrupt Rurales (local Mexican police), a group of angry local villagers, and the title group of bounty hunters (whites who kill Apaches for cash from the Mexican Government) all collide with our two heroes. The one part where this novel fell a bit short for me was in the mild language. In the '50s, Leonard couldn't use profanity or obscenity, and it rings a bit false now.

Forty Lashes Less One is a prison break novel. It's only sort of a Western, being set in 1909, but only the appearance of an automobile breaks the landscape of what would otherwise be a Western. Two convicts, one black, the other an American Indian, are thrown together, first to fight, later as allies, by circumstances beyond their control in a brutal prison in the desert Southwest. Various groups are competing for various things, with a guard who peeks at the women prisoners, a prisoner who pretty much runs the place---he thinks, a new prison warden who wants to redeem those under his charge, and various prisoners scheming to escape, of course. It takes a bit to get going, but the payoff is worth the wait.

Gunsights is about a range war. It's the typical story: the people on the land don't own it, and the land owners don't want them to stay. What makes the story interesting is that the author manages to maneuver two good friends into opposite sides of the fight. Things are reminiscent of The Bounty Hunters; one of the friends is a former army scout, the other's a retired cavalry officer. There are various factions with different agendas wandering through the story: the two men kill several people early on, and spend half the book fighting off their relatives later. The story has a fun and workmanlike progress to it, and you almost can see the ending coming.

All three of these novels are short, all three are good, all three are worth reading. I would recommend this especially for a long plane ride or a short weekend vacation: great escapist reading.