Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Law of the Desert Born by Louis L'Amour, Beau L'Amour, Kathy Nolan

Louis L'Amour has written over a hundred books, mostly westerns.  His western writing is authentic and mean.  His cowboys were not romanticized; they were hard men and they were quick with their guns.  Otherwise, they were dead.  This story is a perfect example of how tenuous life was in the days of the old west and how friends can become enemies, then become friends again.

Bantam Dell and Net Galley gave me the opportunity to read and review this ebook (thank you).  It was published October 8th, so check with wherever ebooks are sold for a copy.

I enjoy a western every now and again and I love graphic novels, so I was anxious to read this story.  It is adapted by Charles Santino and illustrated by Thomas Yeates.  The illustrations are wonderful.  It's almost like reading a movie in a book.  

The story starts with murder.  The cowboy walks up to the door, knocks, and says:  "He died, Jud." and kills the man standing before him.  Then he rides away from the life he'd known and the sheriff he knows will be following him.

Before this point, he put his Mexican friend in jail as the person who stole the cattle from the rancher next door.  It was the usual fight over water and grasslands.  He decided to even up the deal by stealing a few cattle.  But when he's discovered, he tosses the Mex in as the lone bad guy instead of his helper.

When it's time to chase the killer, the Mex talks his way out of jail into the posse by telling them about his tracking skills.  The regular guy is drunk, so the sheriff agrees.

After a long chase, the sheriff and the Mex are the only two still hunting the killer.  The Mex talks the sheriff into going home and goes after the man who wronged him.  He eventually finds him and they are both near death because there's not much water in the desert lands.  The ending is what I expected.  What would you expect?

I enjoyed this graphic novel and suggest if you haven't tried them yet, you should.  They're a fun read no matter what age you are.

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