LARRY
MCMURTRY
Synopsis
from Goodreads: Texas
Rangers August McCrae and Woodrow Call, now in their middle years,
continue to deal with the ever-increasing tensions of adult life --
Gus with his great love, Clara Forsythe, and Call with Maggie Tilton,
the young whore who loves him. Two proud but very different men, they
enlist with the Ranger troop in pursuit of Buffalo Hump, the great
Comanche war chief; Kicking Wolf, the celebrated Comanche horse
thief; and a deadly Mexican bandit king with a penchant for torture.
Assisting the Rangers in their wild chase is the renowned Kickapoo
tracker, Famous Shoes.
Comanche
Moon closes
the twenty-year gap between Dead
Man's Walk and
Lonesome
Dove, following
beloved heroes Gus and Call and their comrades in arms -- Deets, Jake
Spoon, and Pea Eye Parker -- in their bitter struggle to protect the
advancing West frontier against the defiant Comanches, courageously
determined to defend their territory and their way of life.
Stats
for my copy:
Hardback, Simon & Schuster, 1997.
How
acquired: Bought.
First
Line: Captain Inish Scull liked
to boast that he had never been thwarted in pursuit – as he liked
to put it – of a felonious foe, whether Spanish, savage, or white.
Note: I read these books in publication order and that's how I've numbered the series.
My
thoughts: This
was a wonderful ending to the Lonesome Dove saga. None of the books
can beat LONESOME DOVE, but I think this one ranks just a hair behind
the first book. I don't recall a time frame being given in the book,
but I think it's set about ten years after DEAD MAN'S WALK. Call and
Gus are still with the Rangers, helping protect the great state of
Texas from the Comanches. Gus is still in love with Clara, who we
already learned in the first book marries someone else. Call is
particularly fond of Maggie, a local whore, who is desperately in
love with him. Again, we already know her fate, and the fate of her
son, from the first book.
I
became particularly fond of poor Maggie myself, and much as I love
Call I was often irritated at him for not accepting her love, which I
am positive he secretly returned, and rescuing her from her life of
drudgery. Yes, I read a lot of romance novels, and I tend to look for
it in every other genre as well.
As
always, Mr. McMurtry's writing is wonderfully flowing and meandering
at the same time. The characters are vivid and fully developed, and
everyone, even minor characters, seem essential to the story. You can
easily see the town, or the prairie, or any other location, in your
head.
I'm
sad that there are no more stories about Gus and Call, but I am
pleased that Mr. McMurtry has lots of other novels just waiting for
me to enjoy them.
Click on the title to see my reviews of the other Lonesome Dove books.
LONESOME DOVE, Book One
STREETS OF LAREDO, Book Two
DEAD MAN'S WALK, Book Three
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