Customer Reviews

Train to Durango: Border Empire 2

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For those who are die hard westerns fan's this book is sure to keep you turning the page's yet for the newcomer it has all the action you would expect from a Ralph Compton novel, sure to make a western fan for life. The books use of real event's and legend's of the old west is great tool in educating new reader's to " The old west". I am sure that after reading this novel you will add many more of Ralph Compton's masterpieces to your personal library.

After having read all the previous Nathan Stone/Wes Stone books, this one fell flat in the end. Perhaps Compton died while writing this one, as it whimpered to an end. For one thing, even though the Durango-Silverton Railroad figures into the story, the writer didn't know his geography or railroad well enough to get the route correct. In reality, the railroad dead ends at Silverton, so it was not possible to get from Silverton directly to Denver or vice-versa. Also, the book's back cover would have you believe that there was some mysterious armored train under the control of the bad guys. Never appeared, never happened. It does not match the story line at all. Perhaps it got mixed up with a different story? Another point is that the geography and travel times mentioned do not make any sense. Yuma, Arizona is only a few minutes horseback ride from the Gulf of California? Some of the story elements got a little unbelievable. A mine chamber with a secret swinging stone door created by only two men? How is it that the three heroes are able to return to Dodge all the way from Yuma, Arizona practically overnight? It was an interesting story until near the end but sadly fell apart on the inconsistencies and story errors related to the railroad and geography. All too often, I recognized sentences and statements lifted from earlier books in the series as if the writer couldn't think of a new way to say it.

I made it a point to hurry up and read this one. After the ending of "Sixguns and Double Eagles" leaving one hanging like the end of "Back to the Future, Part 2", it was the only way to truly finish the story. And now I have. This story left a lot to be desired. First of all, I believe that the author could have cut nearly 50% out of this and the prior book and combined them into one. There is way too much repeating dialog. It is nice that when the author refers back to a prior story in the series that he puts a little footnote to remind us. Unfortunately it seems that these footnotes appear every 3-4 pages. It also starts getting old that the characters have to use an italicised Spanish phrase once a page. Finally, in Compton tradition, he tends to attempt at taking bits of history or geography and wrapping them into the story. In this case he failed miserably with his research of the railroads. The routes seemed all wrong and backwards. The distances between places seemed off. He scaled down the state of Kansas tremendously. K.C. to Ft Leavenworth by horseback in less than an hour? K.C. to Dodge by train in just a couple of hours. And then he ends with Yuma AZ within site of the Gulf of California.

Combining the two stories together, the trio chases the "Golden Dragon" through over 600 pages and then seems to capture the key member in a pretty quick 10 pages. I think the author just got tired of writing and ended the whole thing. Or he just got tired of repeating endless dialog. Either way, I am glad he did because I was getting tired of reading.

It is an ok read. However, if you have not started the Wes Stone portion (beginning with "The Border Empire") of the 6-book series, then maybe leaving Nathan Stone dead in the streets of El Paso may be a good ending point. Otherwise, like I did, you got to see it through just to know how it ends.

I cannot disagree with much of what the previous 7 readers have said, but I have to admit some initial disappointment when I read the reviews prior to getting the book.

I was anxious to see what happened next after the California adventure, and therefore eagerly started reading. I saw fairly quickly the inconsistencies that others had noted, but the story still is a winner, in my book.

The problem areas I noted in addition to the prior reviewers' notes: After rescuing Renita and Tamara, Wes, El Lobo and Silver take them on to Santa Fe, just a few miles North of the place the criminals had held them. Here our author seems to have forgotten where the heroes are, as he has Silver preparing to send money to Molly who is still in El Paso, so she can meet them all in Dodge. But, he states that Silver is in El Paso, when we know he and the others are in Santa Fe.

When Silver and Molly deliver the bad guy to the Army at Fort Leavenworth, the Commanding Officer, who has previously been a Colonel, is described as being a Captain.

As Silver and Molly are waiting for the train to arrive in Kansas City so they can return to Dodge, the author again forgets where they are, and as it slows to arrive in KC, all of a sudden it is slowing to arrive in Dodge.

All these are minor slips, though, that do not detract from an exciting story. I was really glad that not only Wes and El Lobo have their loves, and are definitely committed to marriage, but also Silver and Molly, Nathan's love interest prior to his murder, find themselves attracted to each other.

Silver wants to retire when the gold counterfeit ring is broken up, and Wes is thinking about applying for his job back in Washington. We are not sure about El Lobo, but one hopes that he and Wes will continue to be partners. This tack is not fully explored, however, and the reader has to just imagine the triple wedding in Dodge, the actual retirement of Silver and his establishing a horse ranch down in Texas, and the future for Wes and El Lobo. One hopes that all will find their desired futures, with wives and children.

This series has ended too short for me - I want more, more!

I gave this book a fairly low rating, but you will learn some history as you plod thru the story. there are a few of these small rails still being used today. however, instead of hauling precious metal they carry tourists. the story will be entertaining and misterious.