Hombre

By: Elmore Leonard

Narrated by: Richard Poe

Length: 4 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

Grand master Elmore Leonard is justifiably acknowledged as "the best writer of crime fiction alive" (Newsweek) - and, in fact, one of the very best ever, alongside other all-time greats like John D. MacDonald, Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, and Robert Parker. But he has also many acclaimed masterworks of American Western fiction to his credit - including Hombre, the basis for the classic Hollywood motion picture starring Paul Newman.

Set in Arizona mining country, Hombre is the tale of a white man raised by Indians, who must come to the aid of people who hate him when their stagecoach is attacked by outlaws. As thrilling as his contemporary novels of crime, double-cross, and murder in Detroit and Miami, Hombre is Elmore Leonard at his riveting best - no less than one would expect from the creator of US Marshal Raylan Givens (Justified).

©1961 Elmore Leonard (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"Narrator Richard Poe's steady, resonant tone; subtle accents; and superb timing bring out the sagebrush and tumbleweeds in this Western classic...the combination of Leonard's naturalistic writing style and Poe's baritone voice makes this a gripping listen." ( AudioFile)

Elmore Leonard’s finest western.

“Hombre” is a finely crafted, complex character study. It’s about a man named John Russell, some bits Mexican, some bits European descent, what the people of the time
Would call “white.” Russell though is Apache raised. He is a riddle the narrator really wants to figure out.

Russell becomes the unlikely hero of a band of people who don’t much like him after a stagecoach robbery leaves them stranded and on the run. The group must turn to Russell because he is the only one who can lead them out of the Arizona desert to safety.

From the description above it sounds like this should be a standard western action adventure. Leonard however has done something far more subtle. “Hombre” leaves almost everything to the reader to decide. You get a sense that Leonard has his own thoughts about Russell and his charges, but he never forces those on us. In this way he is like the hero, is that the right word, at the heart of “Hombre.” John Russell never tried to make people share his thoughts or convince you. That is your business.

Classic Elmore Leonard Western

The performance of the story by Richard Poe is simply outstanding in every way, it’s dramatic without being overblown and he clearly delineates the voices of the many characters. The book is short, more of a novella, so when it was made into a great film by Martin Ritt not much had to be left out of the movie version. However there were many subtle changes from the book, some characters were consolidated and new ones created for the film which was all very fascinating to discover from hearing this original version. I enjoyed it immensely.

Even better than the excellent movie.

Great book. Great narration. The kid and Russell were voiced to perfection. Hombre is one of greatest characters in Western pulp fiction!!

Smokin' great Western

Already said it .... Nicely done (but apparently the rating system requires more words) .

terrific

I defy any reader to put this book down. great audio book. all characters are memorable.

A classic Elmore Leonard western story

A not quite fully satisfying story -- unusual for Leonard -- but a well told tale. And a superlative performance by narrator Richard Poe.

Good but not great.

Was looking for a book along the lines of something similar to the Hateful Eight, but this somewhat fell short of my expectations. Still a very good book. You’ll enjoy it if you like westerners.

Early Elmore Leonard starts slow, gets really good

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

Suspenseful, surprising.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Actually listened to it all in 2 sittings

Any additional comments?

Early work by Leonard very different from his later books but still really good.

excellent tale of morality, the banality of evil

Excellent. Absolutely worth the listen. if you liked the movie this is for you. Gritty.

Great story, great narration.

Road-trip ended but we kept listening… sitting in the car at the rented cabin in the mountains! Yeah it’s that good. Narration is A+.