Appaloosa

By: Robert B. Parker

Narrated by: Titus Welliver

Length: 4 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

When it comes to writing, Robert B. Parker knows no boundaries. From the iconic Spenser detective series and the novels featuring Sunny Randall and Jesse Stone, to the groundbreaking historical novel Double Play, Parker's imagination has taken readers from Boston to Brooklyn and back again. In Appaloosa, fans are taken on another trip, to the untamed territories of the West during the 1800s.

When Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch arrive in Appaloosa, they find a small, dusty town suffering at the hands of renegade rancher Randall Bragg, a man who has so little regard for the law that he has taken supplies, horses, and women for his own and left the city marshal and one of his deputies for dead. Cole and Hitch, itinerant lawmen, are used to cleaning up after opportunistic thieves, but in Bragg they find an unusually wily adversary, one who raises the stakes by playing not with the rules, but with emotions.

This is Robert B. Parker at his storytelling best.

©2005 Robert B. Parker (P)2005 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Like the Spenser books, it’s a study of Parker’s enduring themes: buddy relationships, the weight that honor and responsibility put on a man, the consequences of violence, the way good can shade into bad and vice versa…a melancholy and sometimes moving tale of a lost but fascinating era.” (The Seattle Times)

“Dryly amusing…a conclusion that had to make Parker smile as much as his readers will.” (Los Angles Times)

“[Parker] takes total command of the genre, telling a galloping tale…[a] classic western… magnificent. As always, the writing is bone clean. One of Parker’s finest.” (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

All around great story. Even better narration

There’s no one like Titus Welliver when it comes to spot on and totally engrossing narration. Admittedly, with a Robert B.Parker story he’s got a lot to work with. Wish it were twice as long but the fact is, Parker gets everything done in half the time it takes most good authors. Enjoyed it from start to finish.

Parker's best

I've read Robert B. Parker since the beginning, when people in Boston regarded him as a local writer. (From the very beginning, as it turned out, since I finally realized that he was the same Robert Parker who'd written the Sports Illustrated book on weight training.) I liked his early books a lot, and some of them, such as Mortal Stakes and Looking for Rachel Wallace, had that quality I think Parker himself mentioned -- they were like The Magnificent Seven, not so much stories as songs that you played over and over.

But truthfully, the writing was on the wall very early on, with The Judas Goat. A lot of things started to go wrong. Yes, Susan Silverman, of course --all that smug domestic banter, and the neuroticism with which the relationship was imagined. More than that, though; the writing got self-consciously spare and there was a streak of mawkishness. It got to the point where I'd read Parker if I came across him in the library, whatever series it was, but it felt like a duty. It was like the difference between The Hustler and the slackness of The Color of Money.

Appaloosa was the real deal, though. Here Parker wasn't making things comfortable for a mass audience. His characters are as they are, and you aren't meant to feel completely easy about them. For example, we see Cole beat up an innocent bystander because someone else has provoked him, and Hitch tells us it's not the first time.

The dialog and the situations ring true. It's a tough life, especially for women, and Hitch and Cole are pragmatic and to the point, as is Parker's writing throughout. Parker doesn't waste a word.

Cole's love interest, which is probably not exactly the right term, is Allie French, who's straight up mad, bad, and dangerous to know. It's a survival trait in tough circumstances. Cole feels bound to her, and that could grow into the kind of unhealthy obsession you see in Parker's other series, but in this novel the relationship isn't sentimentalized. The central metaphor is an Appaloosa that Cole and Hitch look at sometimes, a wild stallion watching over a herd of mares. Hitch's observation about where Cole fits into that picture is funny and right.

There is a plausibility issue at one point, though it's pretty forgiveable. You don't give somebody a gun in a dark saloon and tell them you'll come back to kill them if they don't come outside to face you in the daylight. The sensible response would be to let you come back in and shoot you before your eyes adjusted. But it's a good scene, so no compliants.

The narration by Titus Wellever absolutely nails it.

I am over 60 but ...

Maybe because most of my Saturday afternoons were spent at the local theater where the tickets were $.25 cents and popcorn was $.10 and every third movie was a western, but I loved this audible book. I liked the characters, I liked the plot, I really liked the reading. It was one of those books that stayed with me for days after and made picking up the next listen difficult. You do not have to be a guy with a Zane Gray collection to appreciate this novel.

Robert B Parker... he said she said

Holy mackeral... if you counted the word "Said" in a Robert B Parker novel it would easily rank more counts that "the" or "a"!!!

This guy cannot write dialogue .. period!!

While this is a good story, if you can get past Parker's fatal flaw it is entertaining.

The movie is much better...

I also listed to Resolution, the sequel and it's a little better, but still has the "Virgil Said", "I said" virus.

Very enjoyable and satisfying

As a huge Longmire Series fan and having read them all, I’ve been looking for good alternatives for a long time. I’ve been through many titles and authors that left me unsatisfied. I’ve read other Robert Parker books but was unaware of the Cole & Hitch Series until I found it on yet another Audible search. I’m a huge fan of Justice served, law enforcement drama books and as a horse owner especially those with a western or cowboy bend to them. The characters in this novel are rich and will only grow through the series I am sure. The story itself gets you pretty quickly involved in both the story and the characters drawing you in with finesse. The writer has a great command of language and richly describes scenes that often touch all your senses. The ending is a bit open ended, of course this is expected in a series and certainly does not take away from the story being told. It in fact serves its purpose of making you want to read more but not just to see what happens. You’ll also be wanting to learn more of Cole & Hitch.
A great listen and I am hooked. Finally glad to have a great western lawman/men series to enjoy and look forward to that comes quite close to the perfection that Longmire is and takes place just a bit earlier in history.

another Parker Masterpiece

loved it Fantastic performance Interesting story Great companion for a slow evening or a long drive

Titus Welliver nailed this one.

Of course the story is excellent. Robert B Parker is one of the best at bringing his characters and their world to life. But Titus Welliver’s reading really brought this great book to life as well. He does a great job on giving each character their own unique voicing while not sounding cheesy. It really makes the audio version engaging and his voice just fits.

Worth the listen.

I was torn between 3 and 4 stars for this. I ended up giving it 3 because while I enjoyed it, the dialog and character development were just a bit anemic.

The choice of Titus Welliver for the narrator was a good one. He did an excellent job of conveying some of the quirkiness of the characters and his narration almost lifts this book to a 4 star.

Yes, I'd buy and listen to another Robert Parker novel, especially if Mr. Welliver was the narrator.

One of the Best Old west tales

This was a great book. A great and realistic tale about two Old West Marshalls. It has everything Friendships, gunfights, mercenaries, Train robbberies, Murder, Indians; everything you would expect from old west fiction. If you are a fan of the Wyatt earp tales or enjoy old west sagas like the HBO show Deadwood. This book is highly recommended.

How to know a good western

I really enjoyed this story and narrator. Good solid story telling with motivations as old as time. The sparseness of the language and the cadence created by "he said" repetitions evoke the western landscape and monotony of life. A good western is as basic as a good fable. I for one am thrilled that Robert B. Parker is writing in this genre. Take a listen to Titus Welliver's languid and thoughtful narration.