5.0 out of 5 stars
Great read, Mar 7 2005
By A Customer
This review is from: Iron Marshall (Paperback)
Always been a huge fan of Mr. L'Amour and this is one of my favorites.
Also highly recommended - Flint, Last of the Breed, Reilly's Luck.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
...it seems you can fight a little, and it seems you must., Dec 13 2003
This is a fine afternoon book, short and easy to read. The twists and turns kept it moving. I had forgotten how much fun the Iron Marshal is.
The Iron Marshal once again proves Louis L'Amour's incredible range and command of historical fiction. Others may tell the tale of the west, but this novel takes us deeper into the understanding of the life of an immigrant newcomer and how he becomes a part of the western expansion.
Tom Shanaghy is just a boy when the story begins. He's alone and in a strange New York City. Without father or mother this young boy is forced to make it alone. The street becomes his teacher and like so many other young Irishman, he becomes embroiled in political disputes and controversies that force manhood upon him.
Tom seems to be alive only for the moment and this is noticed by the one man he truly trusts. McCarthy, his mentor and teacher, suggests that Tom break away from the road he is traveling. It leads to only one place and that place is somewhere without the support of the powerful people that rely upon his keen mind and strong arm. One day he'll mean nothing to them and he'll find himself alone.
Through events outside of his control, Tom finds himself heading West. From here the story takes on an interesting quality. It's out of control. Many of L'Amour's books follow the tale, but the Iron Marshal is hijacked by the greed of multiple individuals and he again finds himself thrust into a position he had no wanting for.
As an immigrant and eastern city man, this young Marshal is without the keen sense of tracking, rope craft, and small town living. He must rely on near total strangers to unravel the mysteries surrounding him. He also finds himself doubting all of the central characters. Who's a part of scandal and who is not.? How can he protect those that are potentially trying to kill him and this two-bit Kansas town?
Without explanation, the rug is pulled from beneath him and even the few assets he had to work with appear to have been destroyed. Tom, the Marshal, the chief suspect? What was happening? He was the only genuine chance this town had. They were going to move in now. All of it had come to a head right now, and in this moment it was all so clear.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
An unappreciated L'Amour effort, July 5 2003
"The Iron Marshal" is not as popular as some of L'Amour's other works, but it remains an excellent demonstration of his versatility. A good half of the book is not a "western", per se--it takes place in the Five Points ghetto of New York City in the late 1800's. I recently visited what was once the Five Points district in New York City (now home to the federal and state courthouses and police headquarters) and learned just how much tougher Five Points was than any frontier town in the old West.
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