The Californios

By: Louis L'Amour

Narrated by: Erik Singer

Captain Sean Mulkerin comes home from the sea to find his family home in jeopardy. After the death of his father, Sean’s determined mother, Eileen, took it upon herself to run the sprawling Rancho Malibu - until a fire destroyed her hard-earned profits. Now, on the edge of financial ruin, Eileen hopes Sean can help them find a way out. The rumor is that her late husband found gold in the wild and haunted California hills, but the only clue to its whereabouts lies with an ancient, enigmatic Indian.

When Sean and Eileen set forth to retrace his father’s footsteps, they know they are in search of a questionable treasure - with creditors, greedy neighbors, and ruthless gunmen watching every move they make. Before they reach their destination, mother and son will test both the limits of their faith and the laws of nature as they seek salvation in a landscape where reality can blur like sand and sky in a desert mirage.

©2004 Louis L'Amour (P)2012 Random House Audio

Authentic area description

The area around Malibu, the the sea approaches, the surrounding mountains and hills are covered very accurately in this story. The legends and stories around the area are still talked about by the local old timers during their yarns to people asking questions. Very enjoyable story.

Slow to start but an avalanche ending.

I didn't think I would care for the story much, but being that it's LL, I roughed it out and pleased I did. Interesting twist.

Absorbing and refreshing.

I enjoyed the supernatural mixed with history and science. The performance was excellent. Wonderful early California history. Believable and engaging characters both the good and the bad.

Excellent accents of various characters

We liked the mystery in the story and L'Amour's characteristic historical research. These are among the many reasons we have enjoyed all of this author's works.

masterpiece

Any story by Louis L'Amour is a timeless classic, and this story combines the wild west with mystery and old Indian haunts hardly found in his work. Highly recommend! Very captivating reader as well

wonderful exciting tale of western frontier .

Most enjoyable book of California area yet. Just a great tale of experience and rugged living out west with the world of southern California life depicted very well.

Another L'amour classic story, but ...

Would you listen to The Californios again? Why?

Of course!

Any additional comments?

The narrator was not the best with voice characterizations, though his reading was impeccable. That is my only complaint. Narrator wasn't Mel Blanc.

It's not required to be Irish to believe.

L'Amour has perfectly captured that intangible whiff of the
Souls who came before the white settlers and breathed the mystique of concurrent worlds into all. My respect for him is boundless as he never allows any prejudicial slights to creep in and all races, especially the Native American, are truly equal in his tales. In the Californios, he shows his in depth of research of the territory's history and evolution from being Mexico to becoming the Golden Bear State. He does it so well it makes me wonder why my sixth grade history book was so dry and dull yet author L'Amour covers the the same era with color and action that I'll never forget this history lesson! A credit well spent and another waiting to see if we can find yet another L'Amour Mesmerizing tale!

My favorite Louis lamour novel.

This story is one of my favorites, of any novel in any genre.It is a western but then it’s a treasure story and a tale of the sea . Then it’s wisdom of the ancients , giving hints of mythology, and forbidden information on early North America . Then of course it’s a love story , it’s a family story. And it would make a great mini series.

Excellent

From the beginning the storyline held your attention. The intertwining of characters and scenes was very well written and entertaining.