Saturday, March 14, 2020

Book Review: The Daybreakers by Louis L'Amour



You know you're into a book when after reading every few chapters you find yourself thinking, "That's so good," or "I really like this book." My internal commentary is always a good guide to whether or not I would recommend a book or would read more from the author and this book delivered the goods. This is the first Louis L'Amour book I have read even though I've known about the author for most of my life.
Louis L'Amour is one of the most prolific and popular American writers and while most of his titles feature the settling of the American frontier he has written historical fiction, science fiction, nonfiction, and poetry collections as well. Many of his novels are quite short and "The Daybreakers" is only 204 pages long which makes it a breeze to get through. This is just one in a series of books centered around The Sackets. The Sackets are a family from the blue mountains from which strong men a bred. In this installment, we learn about Tyrel and Orrin Sacket. These brothers leave their home in the mountains to join a group of cow rustlers. For the next few years, the boys meet new lifelong friends and find some lifelong enemies too.

As the Sacket brothers try to settle down and find a home for their mother in the open and wildlands of New Mexico they find out what kind of men they really are. They find that the world is full of immoral actors but they stay steadfast to their values to the constant chagrin of bad cowpokes. Tyrel is the mean one with a quickdraw that everyman would learn to fear and Orrin is the well-spoken rock that instills trust and loyalty wherever he goes. Both men are quintessential good guys and with their new friends, they find that taking on evil is worth the risks. The new world wants law and order and its men like the Sackets that will stop at nothing to make that happen. 

If you enjoy the Western genre then I can't imagine you wouldn't enjoy this book. I found myself wanting to get back to it time and time again until soon it was over and in a wonderfully Western way. I can see where writers such as Larry McMurtry must have gotten some inspiration and I'm glad that such good Western books are out there. I can't wait to get into more of Louis L'Amour's books. 





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