Customer Reviews

Resolution

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Everett Hitch and Virgil Cole, Parker's protagonists in Appaloosa, are back. This time they're in a town in the Western territory with the promising name of Resolution. Needless to say, Resolution will be a better, but less-populated town, when their work is through there.

The western is at its best when it is exploring the implications of a world without law, a world with shifting rules and shifting borders, a world defined by the men and women who find themselves there and must somehow create civilization (or hell) by themselves. That is the ethos of Resolution and Parker plays it like a first-chair violinist. I have always said that he is at his best when he is stretched and his occasional forays into this genre stretch him. The result is a tight plot, engaging characters, and the opportunity to reflect, very economically, on the nature of man and the nature of law. The dialogue is spectacular, as is the tone and the texture. Bottom line: prime Parker. Don't miss it.

This book came along at just the right time for me. It's been a while since I've read a Western and I was having some trouble finding a good one. I walk into work this past Tuesday and I find out that Mr. Parker has one being release that day! Didn't have to ask me twice what my next book was. I read and absolutely LOVED Appaloosa and while I don't think this was a sequel, it was a continuation.

I did enjoy this one but not quite as much as Appaloosa. It seemed like Mr. Parker was always leading up to something and then when it got there it was like bang, instead of BANG!!! I did, however, love the banter, if that's what you want to call it, between Everett and anyone, Cole and anyone, and Everett and Cole. Simple, to the point, no minced words, and no double talking. Mean what you say and say what you mean.

I was looking for a little more violence in this story. And I don't mean violence just for the sake of violence. I mean violence that went along with the personalities of the men. I loved how Everett dispensed of Koy (not a spoiler, it's in the dust jacket) and how Cole did what he did at the end but I wanted more of that in this story. I do like the way this author writes his Westerns and he's got me very curious about his other work.

This was a very good book, but not a great book. I think there could have been so much more with this story but this is just my opinion and this is not my work. If you like Westerns then I would suggest you get this one. I just like my Westerns to be a certain way, others will love this book just the way it is.

After the final scenes of Robert B. Parker's novel APPALOOSA, fans knew the story of Everett Hitch and Virgil Cole couldn't end there. Especially not with a movie starring Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen waiting in the wings.

RESOLUTION takes up only a short time after the previous novel. Everett Hitch is still riding solo at this point and takes a job at the Blackfoot saloon as a security guy. I enjoy the relationship between Everett and Virgil, because that relationship is the bones of what Parker has stated will be a three-book series. I knew I wouldn't have to wait long for the action to begin, or for Everett and Virgil to get back together.

Parker delineates his two principle characters very well. Virgil Cole is an unfinished man in a way. He knows what he has been but he doesn't yet know what he will become. Everett Hitch, on the other hand, has no qualms about addressing what he is. His moral convictions are centered and steady, and he never questions his actions or his motivations for doing them.

The town of Resolution remains somewhat undefined and isn't seated in the historical Old West. Parker seems content to just lay the town in where he wants to and sketch in the background and surroundings the way he did in APPALOOSA. Given the story that he wants to tell is skeletal and action-packed, readers don't need much of a history or true-to-life geographical setting the way Louis L'Amour and Elmer Kelton do them.

In no time at all, Everett finds himself neck-deep in trouble. As security man for the Blackfoot Saloon, he works for Amos Wolfson. Wolfson is intent on buying up as much of the town and surrounding land as he can, and he's made enemies of the local ranchers and Eamon O'Malley, Resolution's other financial baron who is also making moves at a major land grab.

Although Parker concentrates on the relationship between Everett and Virgil, he paints an interesting picture of an Old West town being born. The shifting fortunes of the populace bounce back and forth between Wolfson and O'Malley as each of them squares off to become top dog of Resolution.

Everett quickly ends up becoming recognized as a protector of women, starting with the prostitutes that work the two saloons, and spilling over into the domestic arena. He's a definite man of action, but also of compassion, and that rankles the ire of Wolfson who doesn't want the added aggravation. Still, Everett sticks to his guns.

The characters are simple for the most part, but that's why I enjoy reading these books. Parker portrays Everett and Virgil as the same kind of men I grew up with in the small Oklahoma towns where I lived. I understand the values at once, even though a lot of people might think those men were more complicated. Virgil seems driven to understand more about what he's doing and why, but Everett just accepts himself without question.

I think the duality between the two men, the places where they fit together so well, and Virgil's imperfections that keep them apart, paints a pretty accurate picture of the differences between men of the Old West and of the New West.

The story is light and straight-forward. There aren't any surprises in this one, but I had a good time and read it in a couple sittings. Parker fans will love the book and Western readers will enjoy it if they've never read anything by the author before.

I'm looking forward to the movie and to the third book in the trilogy. Seeing how Virgil eventually reconciles himself to his lethal attraction for Allie, the singer that has all the morals of an alley cat, should be interesting.

Robert B. Parker is seemingly constitutionally incapable of writing a bad English sentence. This is an extraordinary tale of friendship, honor, love beyond reason, and identity. I'm not surprised that Parker would look to the West to find heroes with the sort of complex morality he writes about especially in the Spenser and Jesse Stone series. That he does so with such authority makes reading this a genuine pleasure.

Imagine ten or twelve characters defined almost entirely by what they say. Robert B. Parker does precisely that in "Resolution", a sequel of sorts to "Appaloosa". It is sequel in the sense that the two main characters, Everett Hitch and Virgil Cole appear - and, happily, they haven't changed a bit. Both are the kind of men you can believe roamed the American West in the latter 19th Century. They are rough men, perfectly willing to kill others, but they are not barbarians. In fact, both are intelligent and sensitive, trying unconciously to resolve the issue of where they and all humanity stand in the cosmos. It may sound deep, but it isn't. Virgil and Everett are just trying to get through life one day at a time.

Everett rides into the town of Resolution, a town that is still being built. Wolfson owns the Blackfoot saloon, the emporium, the hotel and bank. He is also the local cattle broker, delivering the cows from the the local ranchers, who are economically distressed, to market - and retaining a big chunk of the proceeds. The other economic heavyweights in the town are O'Malley, the owner of a copper mine and Fritz Stark, owner of a lumber business.

Wolfson isn't satisfied with owning most of the town and controlling most of its economy. He wants it all. When Everett Hitch rides into this rough town, Wolfson hires him as a "lookout" in the Blackfoot, a bouncer really.

Everett, a former army officer and graduate of West Point is rootless.

So is his friend Virgil Cole, who shows up in Resolution. Cole recently killed a man who was involved with the woman Cole is fond of. He resigned as the lawman in Apaloosa because he no longer felt he was a law abiding citizen himself.

Cole is laconic and speaks sparsely. So is Everett. Rose and Cato, two shooters hired by O'Malley speak the same way. Others such as Wolfson and the ill-fated Koy Wickham (not a spoiler - it's on the dustjacket) are more talkative.

The mix of characters is wonderful. Virgil Cole, Everett Hitch, Rose and Cato could be fairly called professionl killers, which doesn't mean they are always on the wrong side of the law. Sometimes they are the law. Wolfson represents greed that may not have any other objective than personal enrichment by whatever means possible. O'Malley, Stark, Bob Redmond and the other minor ranchers and businessmen represent ordinary people who are just getting on with their lives and really don't want trouble or violence. Billie is the whore with a heart of gold that Everett protects as he does Beth Redmond, the abused wife of a rancher. There are assorted other characters, some of whom meet violent ends.

Several dynamics are at work here. The conflict between Wolfson, O'Malley, Stark and the ranchers. The conflict between Wolfson, the employer, and Everett Hitch, the employee who does what he wants, not what he is told to do. The friendship between Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch. The relationship between Rose and Cato, two other gunmen hired by Wolfson.

There's a lot going on here - and the wonder of it all is that Parker handles almsot the entire story through dialog! No need for flashbacks, flashforwards, backstories or the other detritus so often used. Rather, Parker lets the dialog alone carry nearly all the story, except for some stagesetting here and there.

Even though there are ten or twelve significant characters, there is never a moment of confusion as to who is saying what. Parker is simply a master of the art of telling a story through what its characters say. Quite an accomplishment, I think.

And the characters are rich and deep. Both Everett Hitch and Virgil Cole come across as intelligent, thoughtful, even sensitive men who will kill you when they alone think it necessary. Judge, jury and executioner - and sympathetic and noble as well. Wolfson through his words comes across as utter sleaze, mostly through his words.

This is a quick read. An afternoon or evening. The book is padded to an extent with large type, lots of leading to bulk it up.

The story is of morals, of truth and justice. It may or may not be a taste of how things were done and said in the American West. Whatever, it is great story made truly remarkable by Parker's incredible skill at writing dialog. Even if you think you have no interest in "westerns", but appreciate seeing a master of dialog at work, read this. It is teriffic.

Jerry

"Resolution" was my first Robert B. Parker novel, and like some of the other readers who've posted reviews here on Amazon, I find the Larry McMurtry comparison more than a little off. McMurtry's books are filled with rich description, characterization, backstory, and something "epic" in feel that "Resolution" clearly lacks. The book is sparse, written more like a screenplay but with even less scene description. It moves, and it moves fast, but so did most of the L'Amour novels and the western fiction of Elmore Leonard and with a bit more meat and style. That said, fans of novel or film adaptation of Parker's "Appaloosa" will enjoy the friendship and violent adventures of Cole and Hitch and the book is certainly not without merits. The action is quick and brutal, as violent acts often are.

Like many westerns, "Resolution" takes place in the mythical non-descript nowhere/somewhere of the 1880s West. Its an unlikely story, where Cole and Hitch stand in the middle of a bloody feud, between totally unlikeable Saloon Owners and almost as unlikeable Homesteaders. We know we should be cheering for the Homesteaders in true "Shane" style, but we never do. It's no wonder that Hitch asks Cole several times if they should just leave for Texas. There certainly isn't much worth fighting for in the town of Resolution, and as a result the stakes are never very high.

There are some historical misnomers. For instance, in the actual 19th Century West, few gunmen wore tie-down gun rigs and Hitch's description that his rifle fires the same .45 Caliber ammo as his pistol is also incorrect. In fact, while some weapons did fire interchangable ammo, no frontier weapon was chambered in the .45 Caliber pistol cartridge.

I should admit that despite some of these flaws, I enjoyed reading this book, and an easy read it was. Especially considering that few chapters are longer than three pages. I will probably read Parker's "Brimstone" as well. I only wish an author would approach the Western with the same vigor as Zane Grey, L'Amour or Elmore Leonard. Or at least with the kind of passion and quality as McMurtry during his pre-Ossana best.

Robert B. Parker has continued a story he started with his book Appaloosa, in which he gave us two memorable characters, Everett Hitch and Virgil Cole. In this story, the two friends and gunmen have parted, with Virgil staying behind to become more of a settled man, leaving Everett to move on to other pastures. I won't say "greener" pastures because afterall, these men live by the use of their guns to keep order in the old west. Everett soon settles in the small town of Resolution, taking a job similar to what the two friends had in Appaloosa, only this time he must rely on his skills learned at West Point, the army, fighting the Native Americans after the Civil War, but more importantly, on the guidelines taught to him by his friend, Virgil. Things start to unravel as Everett's employer isn't what he seems, forcing Everett to align himself with the local farmers and miners, against his employer. Everett is not above working alone with just the farmers to help, but then, just when needed, Virgil, along with an additional two gunmen, whose reputations are know to both, come along to help. Their abilities to sort out the villians from the victims, along with some added humor and respect for each other help end the story on a positive note. Which leads me to hope for another addition to the legend that Mr. Parker is creating with these wonderful, moralistic, and heroic characters. As an added note, hopefully, the two well known actors who starred in the first movie will want to carry this tale to the big screen as well. The books stand alone as a true testament to the morals of the "old west", but the movie made from the first book brought it to exceptional life mainly because Mr. Harris, who not only starred but produced it, stayed close to the original published story. Keep it up Mr. Parker, as well as Mr. Harris, and give us more. Sherry Airey

Mr. Parker's deadly but honorable gunmen Everett Hitch and Virgil Cole are back in this moody, entertaining follow-up to the author's "Appaloosa". Like the earlier book, Mr. Parker explores the nature of an Old America slowly making way for a new, more civilized nation. The problem is that, Old America, for all its danger and savagery and prejudice, was a place where "right" often had a standing chance of winning over "legal", especially when expert killers like Hitch and Cole were in one's corner.

New America, conversely, has no room for a Hitch or a Cole, where lawyers and money enable the easy foreclosure on decent folks whose only crime is a difficulty in making ends meet. Imagine today's bankers, landowners, and landlords having to deal with a Hitch or a Cole protecting late-paying tenants and homeowners, as they do here.

"Resolution" and its predecessor take place during that grey period where the good and bad aspects of Old America are still prevalent, but definitely making way for the good and bad aspects of New America. Cole and Virgil know that they're slowly but steadily becoming dinosaurs, and it's sad to see them feel the itch to move from town to town (Appaloosa in the first book, Resolution in this one, and presumbably Brimstone in the upcoming third installment), trying to find those remaining strong pockets of Old America where their talents can be put to good use.

Old America may be long gone, but one hopes that Mr. Parker's poetic yet incisive series covering the waning days of that memorable period will still go on a while longer.

After having read Appaloosa and then seeing the movie version of it with Ed Harris as Virgil Cole and Viggo Mortensen as Everett Hitch, I found myself visualizing those two great actors when reading Robert B. Parker's newest western novel, Resolution. Harris and Mortensen captured the two lead characters perfectly, bringing them to life in ways that are still clearly etched in my mind; and, like with Tom Selleck in the TV movies based on the "Jesse Stone" series, Resolution simply reads better when I have familiar faces to put on the main characters.

Resolution begins basically where Appaloosa left off. Everett Hitch has left town after killing Randall Bragg in a gunfight, saving Virgil Cole from having to do it and thereby breaking his own rules for justice. Hitch rides into the small town of Resolution and quickly discovers an opening in Amos Wolfson's saloon for keeping the peace in a rather lawless town. Using his infamous eight-gauge shotgun, Hitch shoots the local gunslinger and bully, who just so happens to work for Eamon O'Malley, the owner of Resolution's one and only gold mine. To make matters worse, it seems that Wolfson and O'Malley are each vying for control of the town. O'Malley then hires two gunslingers (Cate and Rose) to take on Hitch, but they all know of each other's reputations as a gunfighter and wisely decide to allow things to take their own course. That's when Virgil Cole rides into town. He's come to visit Hitch and to tell him about Ms. Ellie taking off with another man and heading to Texas. He wants Hitch to go with him as he tracks her down. Hitch, however, isn't ready to leave Resolution. There's a showdown approaching as O'Malley brings in a small army of killers to take on Cole & Hitch. That's when Cato & Rose decide to change sides in order to make the odds a little better for the two ex-lawmen, and that's just the tip of the iceberg of what happens in this utterly entertaining western.

Like with the "Spenser" and "Jesse Stone" series, Robert B. Parker knows how to create believable characters that seem to come to life on the written page. All of the characters in the book, both good and bad, have their own unique personalities and the dialoque between them crackles with wit, intelligence, and emotion. After over thirty years as an author, Parker knows how to write great dialogue. There's also enough historical information included to satisfy those looking for factual westerns. What really makes the novel work, however, is the strong personal relationship between Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch. They know each other as human beings and love each other as brothers, and they certainly have the best dialogue of anyone in the book. Cole is also forced to take hard, cold look at his own belief system regarding his views on justice and killing, and what actually makes him a man. Parker includes several shootouts in the novel, making them as realistic as possible, an uprising that's short lived by the Indians living on the nearby reservation, the unification of the local ranchers to fight Wolfson and his own greed for controlling everything in sight, and the unusual duo of Cato and Rose, who are similar to Cole and Hitch in that they have their own set of rules to live by and try to do what's right when killing people.

All in all, Resolution is the perfect sequel to Appaloosa, bringing back to the two lawmen who could've given Wyatt Earp a run for his money. Never fear, because Cole and Hitch will definitely return in a third novel as they travel to Texas in search of Ms. Ellie.

Resolution was as usual a home run for Robert Parker. We enjoy all his books and this one was no exception. If you like his style, you'll love this one!