The Sackett Brand - A Short Review

In this book, Tell Sackett is wronged in a terrible way. His new wife, Ange, is murdered, and the murderer tries to do away with Tell to keep the story from spreading. The murderer is a cattleman with some 3000 head of cattle – a very wealthy man, and he turns all forty of his hands out to track down and kill Tell. Of course, even after fearful wounds and deprivation, Tell survives and gets justice. He is a Sackett, after all. In fact, before it’s all over, all of the Sacketts I’ve read about to this point, and some I haven’t, show up to help save the day. The critical help he receives is linked to the name of this book – Parmalee Sackett bought out half of the stake in the cattle operation and fired the gunmen hired to kill Tell.

I loved the way the Sacketts all came together to help Tell out in this book. This is how friends and family ought to be when one is in need.

Mojave Crossing - A Short Review

This book is a shorter story about Tell Sackett traveling across the Mojave Desert with a mysterious woman and being tracked by her enemies. Tell eventually has to face down some California criminals, but he has help from a distant cousin, a Clinch Mountain Sackett by the name of Nolan. Nolan Sackett, a semi-criminal himself, at first seems like he might be Tell’s enemy, but they end up on the same side.

One thing I noticed here is that women tend to be very flat characters in L’Amour’s books, even when they are important to the story, as in this case. We are told early on that the lady in this book is something of a witch or temptress, and we are never given any more depth to her at all. This is unfortunate.