Radigan: A Novel

Radigan is great western fiction. It is traditional to be sure, as it gives the reader much of what one expects in a western, without being preachy or opinionated about subjects. It is pure entertainment. This is one of the best of Louis L'Amour's books. Tom Radigan is faced with not only fighting the harsh weather of Northern New Mexico, but a woman with an old Spanish Land Grant to his ranch, and she means to have it. Angelina Foley came up from Texas with 3000 head of cattle and a tough outfit of gun hands to take it. But Radigan has his own gun, and some friends who will fight along with him to see she doesn't get it. This is one classic battle. Written when westerns ruled the air waves--1958--it is what I call a western which is really a western.

Angelina Foley has brought in a herd of cattle and is planning on settling in. Unfortunately, she's planning on settling on Tom Radigan's land. What follows is Radigan's version of a good old fashioned Range War. Adding some complications is Tom's cowhand's adopted daughter, who arrives in the middle of the upheaval and Angelina's half-brother who has plans of his own, which include using the ranch as a base for a band of outlaws he is leading. A good, L'Amour story, as usual.