Tucker: A Novel

Love this man’s work.. his first book that I read growing up (14-15) was Down The Long Hills….. this book was one of my Dad’s collection of Mr. LaMours books.. have read them all over and over again.. they never get old…

Could there be any question that Louis L’Amour is possibly the best-known and most popular westerns writer of all time? I have read lots of books in my life – many of them westerns – and enjoyed most of them. But darned, if I want to treat myself, I can almost always come back to a Louis L’Amour western and not be disappointed.Off the top of my head, I can suggest several reasons for this.The first, of course, is that while he may not be the world’s greatest Writer, he is a terrific Story-teller, who knows how to catch the reader from the very beginning. Take the first sentence in the first paragraph of the first chapter of his novel, Tucker: “When I rode up to the buffalo wallow pa was lying there with his leg broke and his horse gone.”In only 19 words, all but one less than 3 syllables, he has set up the story, introduced the characters, complete with back story, and raises questions in the reader’s mind as to, “What is going on here? What is coming next?”The second is that he respects the myth and legend of the west. His protagonist, Edwin “Shell” Tucker is a hero, but he is a hero because he remains true to himself and his goal: Not to gain revenge but to recover money entrusted to him by his friends back in his hometown. He is afraid, but he doesn’t stop. He is not invulnerable; he is shot more than once, but survives and keeps on going.The third is that he also respects the true history of the west, warts and all. Yes, it was a beautiful land that was surely ravaged by the men moving west, but those same men also faced almost unimaginable hardships to make come true their dreams of land, home, and future for themselves and their families.The final and perhaps most interesting is that L’Amour weaves in philosophy – quite quotable philosophy – into the story.Here are some thoughts about being a man:• “You never know how tough a man is until you’ve tried him.”• “A man was what he did, how he shaped up at work, or against trouble.”• “The thing that shows the man is his willingness to accept responsibility for himself and his actions. Only a tin horn blames what he is on his folks or the times or something else besides himself. There have been good men and great men in all periods of history, and they did it themselves.”• “A man should stop ever’ now and again and ask himself what he was doing, where he was going, and how he planned to get there. And the hardest thing to learn is that there aren’t any shortcuts.”• “The fact was staring me right in the face that a man may run all his life and get nowhere.”• “If you can read, you can learn. You don’t have to go to school to get an education, although it is the best way for most of us, and anyway, all school can give you is the outline of the picture. You have to fill in the blank places yourself, later.”A good thought to end on: If you can read, you can learn.As well as giving yourself a treat.

Tucker is the first Western novel I have ever read. I have never been much of a book reader till now (50’s) For me, it has excellent flow and storytelling and a “Whoa! Didn’t see that coming”. I’m a big fan of the simplicity of the characters and the storyline to boot. I give it it five stars because I thoroughly enjoyed this.

A young man and his father were returning from Colorado after selling a herd of cattle. They were carrying "twenty thousand dollars" in gold and paper money. The father son didn't get along, and there was constant discord between the two.During this return trip arguing reached a point where the son pulled away leaving his father alone. That's when bad luck raised its ugly head hissing causing the horse of the father to buck, causing his father to fall off the horse resulting in a open fractured leg bone...not good..his son Shell Tucker, glanced over his shoulder and he didn't see his father...not good..he turns around and finds his father laying on the ground with his leg busted. The father's horse was gone and so was the money which was in his saddlebags. Let's say when the son saw his father's predicament he blamed himself for leaving him alone. That herd of cattle was a joint venture of the cattle ranchers in his town in Texas. Those ranchers including Shell Tucker father were relying on that money to buy food items replenish their herd. Clothing/shoes for their families and seed for next year's crop. Gone horse and saddlebags; So now it's up to Shell to retrieve horse and money.Shell Tucker life would change forever, he made a promise to his dying father he would get their money back, and he wouldn't let his father down or the families back home. These names, Bob Heseltine, Doc Sites, Kid Reese and later Ruby Shaw were the robbers who he was looking for. This group were pursued by Shell Tucker. It soon became known throughout the west that he was pursuing this bunch because they had stole money that didn't belong to them. Shell Tucker at one time admired the life that Kid Reese, Doc Sites led, he was afraid of Bob Heseltine a notorious gun fighter. Shell Tucker matured he became aware of how he should start to settle down and contribute to society. The west was growing, railroads were connecting cities with town's. He was hearing names such as Mays, clothing vendor, Guggenheim who were building buildings. Tucker wanted to be part of this growth..Lots of soul searching and what he needed to do...Lots lots of action also insight into the psyches of people that Shell Tucker met during his search...

I've read almost 80% of L'Amour 's books now and he has amazing talent that keeps you reading on. This Tucker story starts out with a teen who goes through great lengths to retrieve $ stolen that was payment entrusted to his father for a neighborhood joint cattle drive. The father dies of a leg wound gone bad and Tucker is determined to get the $ back from the thieves and keep his fathers honor intact and his poor neighbors $ back. He goes through all sorts of experiences and does a lot of growing up in the process and also makes a name for himself being so determined to get these bad guys. The ending was a bit of a let down or maybe too predictable. But as usual there is suspense and action if that's what you like. I've enjoyed many other books he's written more than Tucker so the 3 star rating.

I have read all his books so many times that the characters are embedded in my mind. Some are more special than others, like Flint, Will Reillys Luck and Sitka, but all were written by an exceptional story teller. Louis was an original!

I have been a fervent reader of Louis L' Amour since my early teens. Along with Zane Gray, Max Brand and J.T Edson, he is one of the finest Western novel writers, with the ability to actually place you, the reader, into the time, place and story! The descriptive passages are as interesting as the storylines themselves, which are never trite, but gripping and beleivable.

Excellent western novel by L'Amour and well up to standard. I started reading Louis L'Amour westerns way back in the 1950's and recently returned to them on my kindle where they are good value. I was immediately hooked once more and I am pleased to find there are many I have not yet read.

This was purchased as a gift for a Louis L'Amour fan who aims to own a copy of every Louis L'Amour book written.

Louis L'Amour is probably the best story teller there is, you are always with the hero, going through the adventures with them as though you are a partner riding just behind, this particular story, just improves as you go along, I'm enjoying it.

Love this book, I have read it many times . The detail Lamour puts in is unsurpassed. The best western writer ever