Slaughter

"For me, this Elmer Kelton book falls flat. I just couldn't get into the characters. Obviously it is the story of the buffalo hunters and their killing of the bison by the millions on the plains, and the Indians fighting back to preserve their food supply and way of life. The book is slow and plodding. The premise of the story has been told before and told well by Zane Grey, and others. Read Buffalo Stampede by Zane Grey and you will find nothing triumphal about how this tragic scenario played itself out an hundred and fifty years ago. I like Elmer Kelton, and 99 percent of the time you will know what you are getting when you buy one his books--a good read, and sometimes a whole lot better than just a good read. Here, for me, he just missed the mark."

Elmer Kelton has written another very good book. It is about the slaughter of the buffalo by hide hunters. Kelton writres so you feel like you are there. You can just see the country, the plains, mountains and valleys, the buffalo running. It is all so clear. This is about how people lived at that time. It is about Cephus Browder and his daughter Arletta, who does a man's job but has the feelings of a woman. Colonel Damon Gregar and his sorry son Farrell Gregar. There are times I would liked to have shot Farrell myself. Jeff Layne, who I guess is the hero. But he is a humble one. Sully, who is a hero in my openion. Nigel Smithwick, know as English to one and all. How he becomes one of the people of the west. An last but not least Crow Feather and his fellow Indians. How they were badly mistreated and the life they had. A good read. The last few pages will cause chills to go up your back, or at least it did mine. If you like westerns with out a lot of bang, bang heros or ugly words you will like this book.

Elmer Kelton is the most honored western sriter who ever lived. Novels like Slaughter are the reason why. The story is about buffalo hunters on the high plains of what is now the Texas panhandle. Anyone who has spent time in this part of the country should enjoy the story, as well as any lover of western literature. As always, Kelton writes of country he loves (West Texas) and histroy he has thoroughly researched. I would also recommend Kelton's sequal to Slaughter, The Far Canyon as a five star book.

Kelton is the premier western fiction writer of our time. Slaughter is very historically accurate and a thrill to read. The "Cowboys and Indians" that so many of us played when we were children becomes real in this novel. The slaughter of the American Bison is a real tragedy of American history. Kelton describes the scene of the bison lying dead on the ground while skinners cut off their skins to sell. This book will make you think about the careful use of our natural resources instead of exploiting them to the fullest like the buffalo hunters did. A very good read. I highly recommend this book to all western fans.