Customer Reviews

Wolfer

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

 

 

I recently started reading Mr. Estleman's westerns having read Louis L'Amour for the past 24yrs. I felt the story was very well researched despite the lack of literature on the subject of Wolfing. After reading Nicholas Evans "The Loop" I became interested in the subject of Wolfing. I had seen brief references to the subject in Westerns I have read and thought it was a neglected period of Americana. I was suprised to find this book about Wolfing in the Old West. The imagery did indeed remind me of a L'Amour novel and I found the character of R.G. Fulwider a sympathetic one. The "note" at the end, left me wondering if indeed the characters in this book actually existed. All in all a good read and I would recommend it to any western fans out there.

Estleman writes a good story here. He writes good dialogue and makes up some good characters. But, oh, man! I used to live and hunt in the country where this book is supposed to have taken place, and its obvious Estleman never set foot there when he wrote it. Holy cow! He's got oak trees in Idaho, spruce trees whose trunks you can lean against, he's got branches in the woods that are long and straight and strong enough to pick up off the ground and use as ramrods in a long muzzleloading rifle. Not to mention the fact that this guy loads his muzzleloader by putting the patch down FIRST, THEN the powder, then the ball. Good luck shooting THAT thing off! There were some really big contradictions in points he tried to make in the book which if you want details on just email me and I'll pass on the three page list. Then, to top it all off, the ending was so unbelievable it made me sick! I like Estleman's writing style, and for that reason I couldn't give him a one star rating, but that's the only thing that saved him on this horribly written, poorly researched book. Thumbs down. If you want a GOOD story about the country in this book, check out Kirby Jonas's DEATH OF AN EAGLE. Kirby Jonas is known by critics as the NEW LOUIS L'AMOUR, but he's better than L'Amour. CHeck him out. He has his facts STRAIGHT!

He knew the ways of wolves better than the ways of men. He was the best wolfer in the territory - Asa North, itinerant bounty hunter, as cold and ruthless as the quarry he stalked. Black, Jack, fearsome leader of the large pack of wolves in the Caribou Mountains, was the only thing North rally wanted. A big reward was offered for Black Jack - a wolf of savage cunning, whose pack had destroyed countless herds of cattle and sheep. And North was set on tracking down the elusive killer and claming the reward. Good reading.