The Riders of High Rock

A Novel

By: Louis L'Amour

Narrated by: Robert Petkoff

Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

Hopalong rode into cattle country just east of the California line looking for his old friend Red Connors. He found Red holed up in a mountain cave with a bullet in his side and a story to tell. The ranchers around Tascotal had been losing their stock, and when Red caught the rustlers in the act, they hunted him down, shot him, and left him for dead.

Jack Bolt, a savage, ruthless killer, has brought in a tough band of hardcases to run his operation. And now he's sent them out to take care of the one man who stands in his way: Hopalong Cassidy. But Bolt's about to learn the hard way that if you shoot down a man like Cassidy, you better make sure he never gets up again.

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

Early Work

"The Riders of High Rock" was written in 1951, and although I did not enjoy it in the same respect as his later work, I did enjoy it. I had to smile when he used phrases like, 'on TIP-TOE Hoppy went behind the building' etc.. I would not recommend his earlier work to a "first time" reader of Louis L'Amour's work, but I found it interesting to see how his writing progressed. Even by the time he wrote Hondo in 1953, his writing had greatly improved-- "Hondo" (1953) and "Flint" (1960) are voted places in the 25 best Western Novels of all time. I love his books, especially the ones he wrote about the SACKETTS, beginning in 1965...By that time he had become known as "the greatest story-teller of all time" and "King of Westerns", etc.

I have not read any L'Amour book that I did not like, although some more than others.

I think it is worth the read!.

great story, great reader, great for a long cross

great story, great reader, great for a long cross country trip. good ending. works good on Google play in the car.

Hero at large

Louis L’Amour and the first Hopalong Cassidy book. The book starts with Hopalong riding into Tascotal to meet his friend, Red Conners. He finds Ted shot and hid out in a cave. Red was investigating cow rustlers when he ran into trouble. Hopalong sets out the crack the case and bring justice. The story of Hopalong starts with Cassidy a know gunman who brings ristlers to justice. The book read like what one would expect with lots of villains and shootouts. Cassidy gets shot but in the end brings the rustlers to justice. Then he has one last thing to complete the book, which is bringing the mastermind behind the rustling scheme to justice. Like lightening strike, Hopalong out guns the arch-villian, Bolt. The book is pretty straight forward in its approach by sticking to the main storyline and not venturing down side adventures that didn’t contribute to capturing the cow rustlers. Enjoyable read.

Cliche, but it's supposed to be

I read a dozen of the Hopalong Cassidy series when I was younger. I was a lot more idealistic back then, and it was easier to get lost in the story. A villain with nothing but evil motives, I hero who is perfect, and lucky, with loyal friends, and who is liked by strangers instantly. and the good guys show up in the nick of time. Everyone travels at the speed of plot

beautifully written and excellent narrator

. . . . . . . I mean, what more could you ask for?

great book

getting book two couldn't stop once I started recommend if you like westerners and need to stay awake

Hopalong Plus L'Amour Gold

If you could sum up The Riders of High Rock in three words, what would they be?

Great Western Adventure

Have you listened to any of Robert Petkoff’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Petkoff did a masterful job with his performance. He nailed each of the characters, and kept the book flowing and the characters easy to follow.

Any additional comments?

I have listened to all four of L'Amour's "Hopalong" books, and enjoyed them greatly. I know L'Amour was not real proud of them, even denying writing them up to his death. But these are good classic western books.

good one

All of these get a pretty good rating, because to my knowledge, I do not think the writer has ever made a story not worth listening to

Another great story from Louis L'Amour!

Hopalong Cassidy is back, and a gang of cattle rustlers is headed for trouble. Clarence Mulford, the creator of Hopalong, would have loved the way Louis L'Amour handled both the plot and the characters in this action -packed story. Excellent writing combined with superb narration made this one an easy listen.

Go for it

This is a very entertaining story, and the narrator was really on the mark, making it even easier to listen to than usual. I recommend this and I think you’ll like it.