Ride the Dark Trail: The Sacketts: A Novel [Paperback]

Louis L'Amour (Author)

Book Description

Series: Sacketts | Publication Date: May 1, 1984

RIDE THE DARK TRAIL
 
In Ride the Dark Trail, Louis L’Amour tells the story of Logan Sackett, a cynical drifter who changes his ways to help a widow keep her land.

Logan Sackett is wild and rootless, riding west in search of easy living. Then he meets Emily Talon, a fiery old widow who is even wilder than he is. Tall and lean, Em is determined to defend herself against the jealous locals who are trying to take her home. Logan doesn’t want to get involved—until he finds out that Em was born a Sackett. Em is bucking overwhelming odds, but Logan won’t let her stand alone. For even the rebellious drifter knows that part of being a Sackett is backing up your family when they need you.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Bantam Books proudly publishes the newest Louis L'Amour hardcover:

May There Be a Road

Available now! -- Review

From the Publisher

Logan Sackett had run the wild trails since near to when he was born... picked up a few horses here and yon and some cattle too... rode the back trails with the bunch... he'd been around. But he's never bothered womenfolk and he got mighty angry with those who did -- especially when the victim was an untamable lady named Emily Talon -- born a Sackett.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (May 1, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553276824
• ISBN-13: 978-0553276824
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.6 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #245,189 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

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is when Jake Flanner is trying to take Em Talons land., April 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Ride the Dark Trail: The Sacketts: A Novel (Paperback)

This book is about a man named Jake Flanner that wants to take Em Talons land. But before he takes it Logan Sackett comes to help her. Logan is her relation.After Logan comes he and makes these guys know that he means business. He takes them out one by one until they begin to leave alone. I like this book because the it has alot of action in it.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Logan Sackett, May 15, 2009

By 

C. Travis (Tennessee, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ride the Dark Trail (Louis L'Amour) (Audio CD)

Logan Sackett, part-time outlaw, fast with a gun,and as tough as raw hide, is drifting along and runs into Emily Talon, an equally tough old widow who is defending her land against a bunch of no-good gunslingers. When Logan finds out Emily was born a Clinch Mountain Sackett, he decides to help and it is down hill from there for the gun-slingers, but not without Logan being shot full of holes and nearly being killed several times. The story is full of interesting characters and colorful language. It will keep your interest.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Balance, April 17, 2005

By 

Michael D. Blatt "[e-mail]" (HAMMONDSPORT, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ride the Dark Trail: The Sacketts: A Novel (Paperback)

I am new to this author. He is a very good story teller. But what struck me most was his ability to have us look through a self-absorbed character's eyes without flinching. The character's self-awareness strikes the delicate balance between over-reaching and true self-assesment.