Appaloosa

By: Robert B. Parker

Narrated by: Titus Welliver

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)

Well done

Well done. Hard to listen to at first. Only because I've seen the movie so many times I want to hear Vigo Mortensen' voice. It is what was in my head as I read this book as well as the others in the series. Got over it. Good job.

Wow... what a book.

I just finished listening to Appaloosa. If you like the western Genre then this is a great book. If you don't, it is still a great book. It flows well from beginning to end. It is a true Story of friendship.

Very engaging!

The story was great, the humor made me laugh, and the narrative was perfect!

The only negative thing I can say is I didn’t like the use of the “f” word so often but that seems to be the new normal anymore.

I highly recommend this audiobook to anyone who loves westerns and upholding the law and justice of the old western days.

RBP is always entertaining. RIP

this story has everything you want in an old fashioned western but written for a more modern audience. Titus Weliver is great at narrating a very good story. I only caution the language and explicit content is what you'd expect from a modern R rated western.

Appaloosa (Unabridged)"

Excellent Western Robert b Parker at his best

Good story/ great narrator

Not a western novel reader but seeing Titus Welliver was the narrator I tried it.
He made the story come alive to me

Deeep plot.

It's been awhile since I've read a Western and I guess there's not always that much too them. This one was mediocre in my mind. The cowboy dialogue was funny and I like the way it was written in the first person (which worked well for the narrator). My main complaint was that the plot was pretty light and there weren't alot of details to supplement that fact.

well told, but classic western schlock.

The ok corral meets Liberty Valance at high noon, with some Paladin thrown in for good measure.

Western written wonderfully!!!!

What made the experience of listening to Appaloosa the most enjoyable?

The description of the west and the wonderful characters.

What did you like best about this story?

The story made you feel like you were there.

What about Titus Welliver’s performance did you like?

He sounded like a true westerner in the old west.

If you could take any character from Appaloosa out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Everett.

Any additional comments?

I never thought I would like a listening to a western novel. But this one and ones in this series have changed my mind.

As good as Louis L'Amour's westerns

I've read every Louis L'Amour book twice, plus Lonesome Dove and many other westerns. This is just as good as all of those. I know the dialogue ends in "he said" a lot, but that's just Parker's style and the great narrator handles it.
The writing is spare and to the point. Unlike many books, there are no extra words.
I also highly recommend the Spenser books, too.
However, I personally think Louis L'Amour's Last of the Breed (a non-western) is the best adventure book I've ever read.