Sunday, November 8, 2009

The Shadow Riders Review

The Shadow Riders
Louis L'Amour
224 pages

Synopsis -10 /10
Plot - 9/10
Characters - 9/10
Overall Story - 10/10
Conclusion -10/10

Overall - 48/50

Synopsis: Dal and Mac Traven left Texas young and idealistic. They came back from opposite sides of a living hell, a war that had torn the nation in two. They wanted only to reclaim their old lives…but one man held their future hostage.

Colonel Henry T. Ashford had gathered an army of criminals and renegade soldiers, leading them on a path of destruction and kidnapping through Texas to the Gulf. Among Ashford’s captives were the Travens’ sister and Dal’s tough-minded fiancée, Kate.

Now Mac and Dal must take up arms once again and ride together against Ashford’s army—ready to fight another war, if that’s what it takes to win the freedom of the women they love.

Review: I am a big fan of Louis L'Amour. He writes a story that when you start it you feel like you're actually there while it's taking place. Like a couple of his other novel's this particular book was made into a movie...Which I too enjoy. Naturally, I saw the movie before I read the book but I was equally happy with both.

The Traven brothers - Mac, Dal and younger brother Jesse - all head off to the war between the states. When the war is over they head for home only to find that a whole 'nother "war" has taken place before they even get home. A tough confederate Colonel who refuses to let the war end has taken to assembling an "army" of rouge soldiers and outlaws and proceeds to lead them on a path of death, destruction and kidnapping across Texas all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.

Now what this Colonel doesn't know is that he has taken the Traven's sister and Dal's tough-as-nails girl, Kate, hostage. The Traven's don't take to kindly to that thought and take up arms to get back their family as well as the other's who have been kidnapped. What happens next is a pretty AWESOME story of determination, love and some "ha, ha sucks to be you."

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