New Mexico Territory, 1882: two itinerant lawmen walk
their horses down the long, shale-scattered slope into
the frontier town of Appaloosa. Below them, lies rancher
Randall Braggs' new fiefdom. Ever since he gunned down
Appaloosa's marshal, Braggs and his men have owned the
town, stealing, beating, murdering with impunity -
living off it like coyotes feeding off a dead buffalo
carcass. Summoned by Appaloosa's oppressed aldermen,
Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch are here to restore the
rule of law. They've done it before, they know what to
do only too well: shoot quick, shoot clean, reload. But
they aren't the only new arrivals in town. The enigmatic
Mrs Allison French has stepped off the train with only a
dollar to her name, a keen sense of survival and a good
eye for a strong man. Finding one isn't going to a
problem - Appaloosa is full of them: Cole, Bragg, Hitch.
The problem is that Allie French isn't afraid to hedge
her bets - and that Virgil Cole's heart isn't as steady
as his gun hand. Appaloosa is an intelligent,
emotionally profound novel, told in bone-clean prose
wryly leavened with whip-sharp dialogue.It's deeply
satisfying on four levels: one, it's a well-told
historical adventure and a modern re-interpretation of a
classic theme; two, it's an ode to unassailable
friendship; three, it's a subtle love story between two
profoundly flawed people; and four, the way Parker
writes, you'd swear the pages turn themselves. |
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