War

There's nothing better than a Bantam paperback Western on a Sunday afternoon, and nobody better to provide that experience than Louis L'Amour. Bought for 20p from a charity shop, my yellowed, dog-eared copy of Under the Sweetwater Rim doesn't seem like much (though I love the front cover). But it's that which makes it endearing: you know more or less how it's going to go, but you know it won't disappoint you either, and you're happy to sink an hour or two. The plot is good, the characters steady and the writing quick. Books like this need one stand-out element, and Sweetwater Rim's is the setting. The Wind River mountain ranges of Wyoming in winter are beautiful and compelling, even in L'Amour's limited, plot-driven prose. This is effortless pulp reading. ( )

After reading this book again, I have to say that Under the Sweetwater Rim is a little better than the standard "good" L'Amour. All the characters are believable, the plot is interesting, (involving Army payroll), and I found myself rooting for the hero. There are also a couple strong women in the mix, which is not unusual for this author, but always welcome. In some L'Amour novels there's a lot of angst by the protagonist about not being good enough for the love interest, but it's nicely muted here. Good solid read. ( )

Product Description Deep in Indian country, Major Mark Devereaux and his men find a grisly scene: a wagon train savagely attacked, with no survivors. One of the wagons originally with the group is missing; in it is a fortune in gold and Devereaux’s daughter, Mary. The slaughter, Devereaux learns, was not the work of Indians but of a murderous outlaw band. With the stakes rising in a deadly game, the only wild card is Lieutenant Tenadore Brian, who is riding with the missing wagon—against orders. Devereaux knows Brian is a good soldier, but is he good enough to protect a saddlebag full of gold . . . and the life of his daughter? From the Publisher Two hundred vast miles stretching west of Fort Laramie--this was a country! No wonder the Indians were prepared to fight for it. Ferociously, with massacre and fire they swept down on yet another wagon train. One wagon mysteriously escaped. In it, the major's daughter and a dashing, hell-for-leather cavalry officer with renegade notions--and sixty thousand dollars in gold. Ready for anything, they made their stand. ( )

under sweetwater rim ( )