Lawless [Paperback]

John Jakes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1980

Post-Civil War prosperity has transformed the nation. The Kents thrust themselves into the daring occupations of our country's most reckless and corrupt era. . .feverish speculation in the east. . .the cattle boom in the west . . .rip-roaring Abilene and Deadwood.

The disreputable Louis Kent has died in ruin. Jephtha Kent's vow to reunite his family has fallen to his son Gideon. But when Gideon draws Louis's widow, the fiery Julia, back into the fold, he fans the embers of an illicit romance that scorches the Kents for generations to come.

THE LAWLESS is seventh in the Kent Family Chronicles following THE WARRIORS.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A master of the ancient art of storytelling. -- New York Times Book Review

The best historical novelist of our time. -- Patricia Cornwell --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

From the Publisher

15 1.5-hour cassettes --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Jove (July 1, 1980)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0515057142
• ISBN-13: 978-0515057140
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.4 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,442,519 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Lawless, April 2, 2000

By 

BARBARA G. ELLIS (Washington St. USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lawless (Paperback)

The Lawless by John Jakes is an excellant book. First for it's faithfulnes to history and second for the ingenious way that Jakes is able to weave a fictional plot into a factual accounting. Reading any of the "Kent Family Chronicles" is like attending the most entertaining American History class ever created. I highly recommend. this title. A reader would be well advised to start at the beginning of the series to avoid missing any of the family sub-plots that keep this book, and the series, so enjoyable. When I was done reading the book I felt that the Kents had become people that I knew and I was sad that I could not continue along with them in their lives.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Kent Family success, March 4, 2003

By 

UncleCliffy (Hyattsville, MD United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lawless (Paperback)

One of the more successful Kent books. The sons of Jephtha Kent -- who is conveniently (and oh too quickly) killed off -- reap what they have sown. The lawless Kent of the title is Jeremiah, the gunslinger-gambler. Jakes cleverly manipulates other members of his cast to come in contact with Jeremiah without knowing who he is; first Julia on her suffragist tour of the Wild West, and then brother Gideon, with tragic results. The travails of Matthew Kent allow Jakes to explore nineteenth-century Paris, but the author is more successful detailing the great Chicago Fire of 1871 and early union uprisings than the Parisian bohemian art world. Gideon Kent's story takes up the bulk of the book: his wife's madness (which I have trouble buying, even though her father was a drunk and alcoholism is supposed to be hereditary), his affair with Julia, his estrangement from his children, his pro-union sympathies, and his conflict with the railroad giant Courtleigh. Gideon's descent into conservatism is less abrupt than Philip Kent's in The Seekers, and therefore more realistic, but equally annoying. The abrupt about-face by Dolly when she decides to leave Matthew seems out of character: I feel like Jakes is setting up her son Thomas to take part in raj activities in India for a future book never written. Eleanor the budding actress is also a believable character, but her last-minute reconciliation with Gideon is even less convincing. The Lawless has less in the way of canvas and sprawl than The Warriors (for instance), and Jakes seems to be truly interested in character development over episode, perhaps for the first time in the series. Unfortunately, none of the characters is as compelling as Amanda Kent in The Furies --and Jakes chooses to relegate the women to a secondary position.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars awesome, read all 8, the story gets better and better...., March 10, 2002

By 

Jeffrey Roberts (Long Island, New York United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Lawless (Paperback)

maybe my favoite of the 8, it is hard to decide, they are all great and together an awesome read....