''End of the Drive'' captures all the grit, grandeur,
and glory of the men and women who wielded pistol and
plow, Bible and branding iron to tame a wild country.
Here a boy of seventeen, yearning to prove he's a man,
squares up against an outlaw...and discovers that what
counts is not how fast you can draw a gun but how much
faith you have in yourself. A veteran trail driver,
who's faced lightning and hail, raiding Comanche and
thundering stampedes, finds that there's nothing quite
so dangerous as the courting of a beautiful womanHere,
too, in stories told with L'Amour's patented poignancy
and power, a homesteader fighting for his rights is
brutally beaten and crawls off to die...only to stumble
upon an ancient talisman that restores his faith and
will to live. A preacher from a distant land rides into
a small frontier town with a voice full of fire and a
saddlebag full of miracles...to deliver a promise and a
warning that lead the local folk to a most surprising
revelation. And in the full-length novella ''Rustler
Roundup,'' the hardworking citizens of a law-abiding
town are pushed to the edge to defend all they hold
dear. As suspicion spreads and evidence mounts, the
rumors of rustlers in their midst threaten to explode
into a full-blown range warEach of these stories bears
the master's touch--comic twists, stark realism,
crackling suspense--all the elements that have made
Louis L'Amour a frontier legend in his own right. In
''End of the Drive,'' L'Amour brilliantly illuminates
the dramatic struggles and enduring truths, the
self-reliance and self-determination that have long beat
at the heart of America's greatness. |
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