Louis Lamour Book Reviews

Peter Griffin tries to kill King Mabry in the opening chapter of “Heller With A Gun.”  Later on he is hired again to kill King Mabry.  Pete is a careful man, but so is King Mabry.

In chapter four, L’amour makes an attempt to buy the reader’s sympathy by providing excuses for his continued degenerate behavior.  In the end he does accept the job and agrees to attempt to murder a man in cold blood for money.  But of all the characters in the book he is perhaps the most complex and interesting.

In the end I can’t decide if I hate him or not.  I can hardly blame the man for attempting to find a way of living.  His career was difficult, but was also bred of a need in the world that he lived in.  Men needed killing in order to make way for the dangerous enterprises they started.  Had he succeeded he would not be known in infamy, but would have merely been just another rough man of the west.  In any even the complexity of his character makes him interesting and adds depth to L’amour’s story.

From Heller With A Gun “The hunter and the hunted . . . these two are kin. Their senses are alert to the same stimuli, awaken to the same far-off sounds. A shadow in the wrong place, a flicker of sun reflection, a creak of leather . . . each may be a warning.” (page 5).

So often in the world around us things which seem to be completely opposed to each other are really very much the same. Something cannot be separated from itself or the system in which it lives. If a man is out to hunt another man then he needs to be aware of that person’s habits and desires. In order to understand another person he needs to become somewhat like that person.

The question to ask is what the dividing point between the two are. It cannot be a matter simply of action. King Mabry shoots his pursuer. Though he does not kill the man, this appears to be purely a matter of chance rather than choice. What is the difference? Is it motive? Means? The other actions that King Mabry would rather be doing than committing violence?

King Mabry fairly typical of many of L’amour’s characters. The distinguishing feature of King Mabry is that he is open about being a hired gun. While he is an honest man, he has no compunction against killing or accomplishing what he needs through violence. In addition he doesn’t have a strong compunction against selling his gun though clearly he won’t sell it to just anyone. The opening sequence portrays how Mabry must ruthlessly defend himself from attack. But L’amour takes pains to point out Mabry’s mercy. He doesn’t kill his attacker, and he refuses to engage in deadly violence until he has to defend the acting troupe. This mercy humanizes Mabry in an important way. Without it the reader would have difficulty distinguishing him from any of the hundreds of outlaws and bad guys throughout L’amour’s books.

As I shoveled my walk this winter, I thought about the danger of snow described in the novels of Loius L’amour.

These days when the snow falls it is mostly fun and games.  Building snowmen, and snow angels in the park and front yard leap to the minds of children.   The dangers mostly surround driving.  These days snow tires and chains are the safety equipment.

If you venture away from civilization, the dangers become similar to what Jubal Sackett or King Mabry faced.  Freezing to death in your own sweat.  Getting wet and frozen.  Getting lost.  Becoming blinded by white snow.  Starving because game is scarce and difficult to pack out with increasing other risks.

These days living through winter is a lot less difficult than it used to be, and I for one am glad for it.

Dodie Saxon gives a bit of insight into Louis L’amour’s perception of young women, and perhaps what he considered to be an ideal woman.  In modern terms Dodie Saxon would be considered a minor, not legally able to make her own decisions, let alone manage her own career as an actress.  For this reason she can appear more than a little presumptuous to the modern reader.

She is strong-willed, very forward, but also intelligent and a hard worker.  She is not afraid of doing what needs to be done, not only to keep order in their camp but to protect the troup in their travels.  Her courage, is one of the points that makes her attractive to the reader and to Mabry.

Most of L’amour’s other women are much more like Janice in both personality and physical description.  Dodie is a bit of a departure for L’amour, but this departure makes Dodie feel fresher and more adventurous for the seasoned L’amour reader.

Overall I like the portrayal of Dodie Saxon.  She gives the book a different feel and adds a dimension to the story that otherwise would not exist.

Tom Healy is among the more interesting characters in Loius L’amour’s “Heller With A Gun.”  He is far from the typical cowboy.  Before beginning his trek west he has never slept out of doors or use a gun.  He hasn’t done much of anything that would qualify him to lead anyone across an unknown trail in the middle of a Wyoming winter.

What he does have, however, is motivation.  He has a drive to succeed, even if that success means only making enough money to survive.  He won’t quit.  When the going gets difficult and he is stranded and alone in the wild he digs deep within himself to find a way to survive.  He is selfless enough to think of the women in his charge before himself and he is brave enough to try protect them even when there is no real hope.

At one point he saves King Mabry despite whatever reservations he may have had about the man or any jelousy he has because of Mabry’s interest in Janice.

Of all the characters in the book, Tom Healy arguably makes the most changes throughout the story.

The opening chapters of Heller With A Gun are some of my favorites that Louis L’amour ever wrote.  King Mabry is stalked through the Wyoming snow by a man sent to kill him.  Mabry knows and understands the danger, but isn’t willing to take any chances with the cold weather or with the man following him.

When they find shelter Mabry immediately begins to figure out a way to turn the tables, making the man uncomfortable in the freezing cold, and eventually forcing him to expose himself long enough for Mabry to shoot him.  Mabry doesn’t kill the man, but doesn’t leave him to die in the cold either. 

Though the suspense is of course dependent upon my personal suspension of disbelief, the first chapter, even after reading several times continues to capture my attention.