Louis Lamour Book Reviews

Nolan Sackett is quite a bit different from many of the other Sacketts. Most of the other Sacketts pay much more attention to their manner of dress and the way in which they present themselves to the world. The details about clothes, hair, even the kinds of guns they use often come up on L’amour’s prose.

Nolan Sackett is an outlaw. He does whatever is necessary to secure his position, and he doesn’t back down from any fight. Really this isn’t much different from the rest of the Sacketts. He is quick with a gun, smart about how he handles himself and a solid man of the west.

What separates him from the other Sacketts is not so much what side of the law he rides on, but the relative importance (or unimportance) that he places on the opinions of the rest of the world.

Parmalee Sackett is a flatland Sackett.  As far as I can tell this means that rather than being poor and dressed like a mountain man or farm boy he is wealthy and dresses the part.  Otherwise he is very much a Sackett.

Parmalee uses money in the same way that other Sacketts use a knife or a gun.  He uses it to crush his adversaries and to improve his position.  In “The Sackett Brand” he uses it to help Tell Sackett.  The book doesn’t go on to describe what profits he may have gained from helping out his cousin, but you can be sure that any Sackett worth his salt made sure to cash in on the situation if for no better reason than to be able to help future Sacketts.

William Tell Sackett is, like all of the Sacketts tough as nails and ready for anything.  “The Sackett Brand” casts Tell in a different light than we find him in the movie “The Sacketts.”

The book starts off with Tell being shot, and then describes his efforts to survive and avenge not only his shooting, but the murder of his wife.  Tell is different from his brother Tyrel in that he is not so fast with a gun, and much slower to violence.  Also he does not have the charisma or charm of Orrin.

Tell’s most distinguishing trait is his uncanny mountaineering ability.  Though all of the Sacketts are able trackers, Tell persists for weeks among men who are actively hunting him and manages to not only evade them but continues to turn the tables against them.

Tell is also definitely the least conversational of the Sacketts, but in many ways is the most loveable.  His awkwardness has a charm all its own, and his selflessness and thoughtfulness for others stands in stark contrast to the many other cowboys who sought only wealth or improvement for themselves.

Should Laura Pritts have her own article?  Is her character strong enough?  Obviously I think so.  Louis L’amour thought so as well.  She makes appearances, brief as they are, throughout the Sackett saga.

In her own way Laura Pritts is a driving force of the action in The Daybreakers.  Though her father is the primary antagonist, she creates the internal conflict within Orrin and by extension the conflict between Orrin and Tyrel.  She also has a great influence on the conflict between Tom Sunday and the Sackett brothers.  Without her it is likely that her father would not have had the ability to keep Orrin, and by extension Tyrel, in check for so long.

In many ways she is also one of the most rounded female characters in L’amour’s writing.  She has all of the appearances of being a desirable woman to begin with.  I cannot disregard Orrin’s sense of judgment enough to think that he would simply fall for a pretty face if there were not other redeeming qualities about her.  But the fact that she would be evil enough to plot her own husband’s death is enough to peak my interest.  Rather than being another pretty figurehead for the hero to win at the end of the story she is a breath of fresh, albeit very mean and selfish, air.

The Daybreakers is not a story rich with intrigue or plot twists.  The 1979 movie The Sacketts which is based on the book develops some aspects of the plot a bit more.  By and large, however, even that story keeps it to essentially a history.

Tyrel and Orrin are presented as protagonists early on, and Johnathan Pritts and his daughter are clearly antagonists the moment they step onto the stage.  The reader is not surprised to find that Mr. Pritts has begun nefarious activities or even to discover that his daughter has gone so far as to plot the murder of her husband Orrin.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the plot is the ultimate confrontation between Tyrel and Tom Sunday.  In many ways this is the most engaging emotional aspect of the book, but even this climax is easily foreseen.  The animosity between Tom Sunday and the Sackett brothers is built for many chapters before finally finding release, and the question of which Sackett will face Mr. Sunday is essentially answered in the first sentence of the book when we find that Tyrel is telling the story and not Orrin.

As the point of view character, Tyrel Sackett comes off as a rough and tough, ready to handle any difficult or violent situation cowboy.  He holds to the true tradition of living by his word and backing down from nobody.  Per his usual style, Louis L’amour presents Tyrel Sackett as a larger than life hero that any young boy might aspire to emulate.

Unlike his brother Orrin, Tyrel finds himself tongue tied and uneasy around women.  When Tyrel meets Drusilla he can barely admit his attraction to himself let alone confess it to her.  Despite his confidence in violent situations he finds himself doubting his abilities to please her due to her situation as an heiress to a wealthy cattle empire.

Over a period of years Tyrel manages to grow into a more rounded individual.  He punches cows all around the west, working to get together enough money to own his own place.  In the end his marriage to Drusilla is more of a union of equals. 

Louis L’amour seems unable to allow his male characters to endure a situation where they must be ultimately subordinate to a female.  In some ways this is part of what attracts his books to men, though clearly this is fiction at its highest.

Tyrel Sackett is ultimately a likeable and enjoyable character though certainly more predictable than his brother Orrin.

The character of Orrin Sackett in The Daybreakers presents in some ways a very non-stereotypical cowboy.  Rather than rugged and quick with a gun, Orrin understands that charm and wit can be as powerful as any weapon.  Don’t be fooled by his friendly demeanor, however.  As a lawman he does not hesitate to enter a fight when there are no other options.

The Daybreakers describes Orrin’s election as marshal and then as sheriff.  Orrin works his way into politics because it is a natural fit for his personality. 

The most unlikeable aspect of Orrin’s personality is his nearly fatal attraction to Laura Pritts.  As the daughter of an eastern outcast, Jonathan Pritts, Laura holds herself above the rabble of cowhands meandering through the west.  Orrin’s charm and personal ambition overcome her father’s objections and win her heart.  Unfortunately her loyalty lies more with her father than with her husband, eventually going so far as to plot his death.

Should Orrin be respected or resented for his treatment of her?  In the American west of that time divorce was essentially impossible.  About all he could legally do was ignore her. 

Orrin is a somewhat enigmatic, but likeable character in The Daybreakers.  As usual Lous L’amour presents an enjoyable character worth taking a second look at.