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bookhawk's review
dark
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Parker expressed far more with much less in this series. Parker’s enigmatic Virgil Cole and partner Everett Hitch comprise a formidable and compelling duo in the old West. 3.75 stars.
ayaktruk's review against another edition
4.0
Having seen Appaloosa (based on the first novel in Parker's western series), it was hard to visualize Virgil and Hitch as faces other than Ed Harris and Viggo's -- but still, Parker never disappoints if you're in the mood for his rapid fire prose and no-nonsense feel for action.
Looking forward to "Return to Appaloosa" to see how things work out for the Colt carrying duo (+ 2) and to see what RBP has in store for Pony Flores aka Vinnie Morris w/out the iPod.
Looking forward to "Return to Appaloosa" to see how things work out for the Colt carrying duo (+ 2) and to see what RBP has in store for Pony Flores aka Vinnie Morris w/out the iPod.
ericbuscemi's review
4.0
While not as good as [b:Resolution|2052978|Resolution (Virgil Cole & Everett Hitch, #2)|Robert B. Parker|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1266497760s/2052978.jpg|2058039], this book was a fitting conclusion to the tales of Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch -- and it has to be, because while [a:Robert B. Parker|397|Robert B. Parker|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1354149354p2/397.jpg] said he had more stories to tell about these characters, he unfortunately passed away not long after this book was published.
dontanam's review against another edition
3.0
I am not a reader of westerns. Sure, I'll watch Bonanza and The Ponderosa and Gunsmoke and Cheyenne with my mom; the shows are just so damn engrossing. But I don't read the books. I only watch the shows, because I grew up watching them with my grandmother, and watching them now brings a sense of nostalgia. Western books, though, have never been my cup of tea. I get my reading preferences from my grandmother. She read romance novels. I read romance novels. Logic.
Wanting to be a librarian, though, I figured I should try something new. I picked this up based on two things. 1) It's short. It's only four discs long. That's one week's worth of commutes to work. I can do that. 2) The librarian in charge of ordering the audiobooks recommended it to me, when told him I was going to need to read "a dreaded western". He said it was very cowboy-y, very western, but with a good story. I tried it.
Virgil Cole & Everett Hitch have one mission: Find Allie French. But doing so will lead to all kinds of trouble.
Virgil and Everett are looking for Allie French, Virgil's sweetie from Appaloosa. They've been looking for her for a while now, and finally they get word of her. She's working on her back. Virgil's not real happy about that. In fact, he can barely face her when they find her, and doesn't touch her for months. Allie admits to hating her life as a whore, so Virgil and Everett take her with them when they leave, on their way to a job in Brimstone as deputy sheriffs.
Once in Brimstone, they notice a church run by Brother Percival that is ruining the saloon business in town. The only saloon left alone is Pike's Palace, run by a man named Pike. Pike and Percival are in league, but Virgil and Everett can't figure out how. It's not until Virgil is told of whispered conversations and secret meetings between Pike and Percival that it becomes clear.
Have I mentioned the obligatory Native American kidnapper/human trafficker, the inevitable meetup and killing of said Native American, the rapes of a mother and her daughter in front of each other, the mother's madness, the daughter's muteness, Allie cheating on Virgil with Percival after telling him that she wouldn't sleep with another man after her stint as a saloon whore. Well, now I have.
Brimstone is the third novel in the Virgil Cole & Everett Hitch series, originated by Robert B. Parker and continued now by Robert Knott. I did not realize this when I started reading it, and wouldn't have known if I hadn't added the book to my Goodreads lists. Parker does a great job of adding just enough back story that this book feels like a standalone. The characters, though, feel like every other gunslinger, whore, reformed whore, and crazy Jesus reverend in every other Western.
Brimstone was a compelling read, though, mainly because of the narrator, Titus Welliver. An accomplished television and film actor, his voice work was really good. As Parker uses "said" for every character utterance, I wouldn't have been able to tell questions from yelling from whispering without his inflections. I'm pretty sure the only reason I kept listening was because I enjoyed Welliver's reading. The story was typical genre fare, but Welliver made it more interesting.
It was my first western, and I enjoyed myself. I'm not doing it again.
Wanting to be a librarian, though, I figured I should try something new. I picked this up based on two things. 1) It's short. It's only four discs long. That's one week's worth of commutes to work. I can do that. 2) The librarian in charge of ordering the audiobooks recommended it to me, when told him I was going to need to read "a dreaded western". He said it was very cowboy-y, very western, but with a good story. I tried it.
Virgil Cole & Everett Hitch have one mission: Find Allie French. But doing so will lead to all kinds of trouble.
Virgil and Everett are looking for Allie French, Virgil's sweetie from Appaloosa. They've been looking for her for a while now, and finally they get word of her. She's working on her back. Virgil's not real happy about that. In fact, he can barely face her when they find her, and doesn't touch her for months. Allie admits to hating her life as a whore, so Virgil and Everett take her with them when they leave, on their way to a job in Brimstone as deputy sheriffs.
Once in Brimstone, they notice a church run by Brother Percival that is ruining the saloon business in town. The only saloon left alone is Pike's Palace, run by a man named Pike. Pike and Percival are in league, but Virgil and Everett can't figure out how. It's not until Virgil is told of whispered conversations and secret meetings between Pike and Percival that it becomes clear.
Have I mentioned the obligatory Native American kidnapper/human trafficker, the inevitable meetup and killing of said Native American, the rapes of a mother and her daughter in front of each other, the mother's madness, the daughter's muteness, Allie cheating on Virgil with Percival after telling him that she wouldn't sleep with another man after her stint as a saloon whore. Well, now I have.
Brimstone is the third novel in the Virgil Cole & Everett Hitch series, originated by Robert B. Parker and continued now by Robert Knott. I did not realize this when I started reading it, and wouldn't have known if I hadn't added the book to my Goodreads lists. Parker does a great job of adding just enough back story that this book feels like a standalone. The characters, though, feel like every other gunslinger, whore, reformed whore, and crazy Jesus reverend in every other Western.
Brimstone was a compelling read, though, mainly because of the narrator, Titus Welliver. An accomplished television and film actor, his voice work was really good. As Parker uses "said" for every character utterance, I wouldn't have been able to tell questions from yelling from whispering without his inflections. I'm pretty sure the only reason I kept listening was because I enjoyed Welliver's reading. The story was typical genre fare, but Welliver made it more interesting.
It was my first western, and I enjoyed myself. I'm not doing it again.
the_weirdling's review against another edition
4.0
I can't really account for why I like these books so much. They are not the best written (though well written), nor the best stories (though the stories are good). They are not the best Westerns either. Parker is not L'amour. For sure, they are excellent "guy novels" and maybe that's what I like about them. I really love the two main characters. Whatever the magic, I've read the first three now and will read the fourth and - if the writer hired to continue the series after Parker's death is any good - I will keep reading on.
blevins's review against another edition
3.0
I think this may have been Parker's last novel before recently passing away--maybe I'm wrong? He revisits the world of the western and the characters Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch--who were featured in the film APPALOOSA. It's a western with shoot outs, bad guys, horses, saloons, dusty streets, clipped dialogue. The dialogue is so short it feels more like conversation from a crime novel (where Parker has done most of his writing) than a western. These two worlds are kind of similar when it comes to the way people talk more than likely. Okay, but not blow the barn door off good. Just an entertaining, short, quick read set in a familiar world of the "western" that I enjoy every so often.
lindakay99's review against another edition
5.0
Probably my favorite thus far in the series!! I still can't believe I'm reading westerns!!
laterry75's review
3.0
Cole and Hitch find the duplicitous Allie French in a bordertown whorehouse. Much to my surprise, they don't leave here there to rot. Again, they find themselves caught between warring factions. No surprises, but plenty of solid action for Western fans and Parker fans.
I love Everett Hitch.
I love Everett Hitch.
auri_underthing's review
adventurous
dark
funny
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This book was darker than the first two but still enjoyable.
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape