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The classic Western, now newly repackaged as part of Bantam's Louis L'Amour's Lost Treasures program--with never-before-seen material from Louis and his son, Beau L'Amour. It was just a godforsaken mountainside, but no place on earth was richer in silver. For a bustling, enterprising America, this was the great bonanza. The dreamers, the restless, the builders, the vultures--they were lured by the glittering promise of instant riches and survived the brutal hardships of a mining camp to raise a legendary boom town. But some sought more than wealth. Val Trevallion, a loner haunted by a violent past. Grita Redaway, a radiantly beautiful actress driven by an unfulfilled need. Two fiercely independent spirits, together they rose above the challenges of the Comstock to stake a bold claim on the future. Louis L’Amour’s Lost Treasures is a project created to release some of the author’s more unconventional manuscripts from the family archives. In Louis L’Amour’s Lost Treasures: Volume 1 and Volume 2, Beau L’Amour takes the reader on a guided tour through many of the finished and unfinished short stories, novels, and treatments that his father was never able to publish during his lifetime. L’Amour’s never-before-seen first novel, No Traveller Returns, faithfully completed for this program, is a voyage into danger and violence on the high seas. Additionally, many beloved classics will be rereleased with an exclusive Lost Treasures postscript featuring previously unpublished material, including outlines, plot notes, and alternate drafts. These postscripts tell the story behind the stories that millions of readers have come to know and cherish.
Reviews with the most likes.
For this book Louis L'Amour obviously did a lot of research into 19th century hard-rock mining and in particular into the early development of the famous Comstock silver ore lode. Of course, being Louis L'Amour he seamlessly inserts that info into a damned good story about revenge, honor, and steadfastness in the face of great difficulty and danger.
Overall, quite a good novel – in the parlance of the old hard-rock miners, “deep enough”.
Top 3 L'Amour book, behind Bendigo Shafter and Last of the Breed, in my opinion. The I think what made the story great besides the fact that it had a solid protagonist was that the antagonist, Albert Heskith, was such a great bad guy. All the conniving acts never cease to end and you hate it him more and more as story proceeds. Well done L'Amour!