Review: Sackett

Sackett by Louis L'Amour
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I purchased a number of Louis L’Amour books recently, thinking I might try reading the kind of books my Dad read growing up. I asked one of my best friends from high school, who was always reading a L’Amour paperback, which one he’d suggest I read first, as I hadn’t read but a few. He told me his favorite was “Sackett”, and since that was in the bundle I purchased, I read it first. I’ve only read a handful of Westerns, mostly Zane Grey’s. There seemed to be a kind of formula, where the lone cowboy hero of the story was the silent, surprisingly smart fellow who appreciates the land and tries to do the right thing by his people and society. In “Sackett” we have a hero with attributes in multiple areas, many more than other Western heroes that I have read. Sackett is superhumanly strong, exceptionally smart (book smart as well as nature smart, and always learning), tall, sense of humor, head for business, strong moral and family code, handsome to the ladies. He’s pretty much a Western super hero. I didn’t get the impression anything could stop him, outside of horrible blizzards or a lucky shot from a mile away. (Ends up he’s only slowed down by these kinds of things.)

Once I got into the superhero mode, this ended up being a good read. I look forward to reading more, and seeing if the Sackett’s great genes exist in others of the family.


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