Streets of Laredo

I liked the story but wouldn't share it with another without covers front and back. The book should never have been sold to the public. How about a refund or a new streets of Laredo for free?

If you really enjoy the journey read the series in the correct chronological order not by when they were released. Dead Man's Walk, Commanche Moon, Lonesome Dove and finally Streets of Laredo.

I recently enjoyed "Lonesome Dove" on audiobook, having previously read nothing by McMurtry and with the pre-concieved notion that it was just a corny romance set in the wild west. Those of you that have read it know, as I learned, that the book is far more than that. It instantly became my favorite, or close-second-favorite, book of all time. Once through LD, with the knowledge that McMurtry had written three other parts to the LD "saga", I knew I could not resist reading the others, even though I agree that sequels, particularly in literature as opposed to film, almost always fail to do justice to the original work. "Streets of Laredo" not only does justice to it's predecessor, keeping true to its characters and themes, but builds on those elements and adds to them, giving the reader a satisfying resolution to the LD story, as well as an entirely original adventure and beautifully sad story to boot. McMurtry brilliantly dispenses the fate of some of the main characters from LD within the first thirty or so pages, essentially letting those readers who tuned in for nothing more than to simply find out what happens to Call, Newt, Lorena, July and "the gang" know that that is not this book's purpose and they can tune out if that's all they were looking for. "Streets of Laredo" is the conclusion of the story of Woodrow Call. It's also a story about family and, more specifically, about motherhood; the love and loyalty that a mother is capable of, the anguish that a mother can feel and the lengths she'll go to to protect her family. In the characters of Lorena and Maria, McMurtry depicts women who, when the safety and happiness of their families are threatened, show determination and strength of character equal to, or even surpassing, that of Gus and Call themselves. On the lighter, but equally satisfying, side, "Streets of Laredo", like LD, is a great adventure story of the wild west, complete with manhunts, train robbers and bandits, legendary outlaws and lawmen, shootouts, chases on horseback, good guys and bad guys. McMurtry weaves a classic adventure story together with a character driven tragedy like no other I've read. It's also worth mentioning, though technically a sequel, this book works entirely on its own and you wouldn't miss a beat if you read this one without having read "Lonesome Dove", though I'd personally recommend reading that classic first. Even if it doesn't surpass the grandness and scope of Lonesome Dove (after all, how could it?), "Streets of Laredo" stands on its own as a great novel on every level and McMurtry is one of the great American writers of our time.

I first read the original, Lonesome Dove, and followed those up with the immensely disappointing Dead Man's Walk and the better but still not entirely worthy Comanche Moon, so by the time I began to prepare to approach Streets of Laredo, I was cautious (well obviously, I dragged out the approach pretty good there). I wondered if McMurtry was up to the task of revisiting the characters that have become so dear to me, or if he'd falter like he had in the prequels. And now, barely post-reading, I can say that I think he did a fine job, though I did have a few problems. Throughout the story I grew more and more suspicious that McMurtry took his story in wild directions, either killing or maiming central characters without a second thought, simply to spite Return to Lonesome Dove, the miniseries sequel that was written and produced without his involvement (and aired prior to the release of this "official" sequel). Certainly, he may have done the unheard of with his characters just to be unpredictable, but I felt a little cheated of closure with characters who I began to consider friends, and the thought that it may have been for no other reason that to set the story apart from the black sheep miniseries, well, it kinda hurt. But whenever I'd begin to feel angry with McMurtry and his murderous ways (he was killing off my friends, man!), I'd get caught up in the story again and endeared with new or expanded characters and begrudgingly forgive him.So while Streets of Laredo may not do with the Lonesome Dove characters what you hope it will, just trust Larry McMurtry. He knows his characters, he knows what he's doing, and wouldn't we be just as angry with him, or more, if he gave us a pacifying, milquetoast resolution that we'd have seen coming anyway?

Alright, it's not as good as LONESOME DOVE. That was the first book of the series I read, and it was so brilliant and entertaining, that I almost didn't want to read more and spoil it. But I gave in to temptation, and I'm glad I did. Warning, though...if you thought there were depressing things in DOVE, watch out for this one! Lots of characters die...in fact, lots of memorable characters from LD are already dead when STREETS begins. But you have to accept that sort of thing from McMurtry. His plots, just like life, do what they want to, and no preference from the reader will change that. A feeling of dread hangs over this book, particularly whether Pea Eye and Lorena will ever reunite happily. Jeez, I couldn't read this thing fast enought to see what happened next, and in my opinion, that's about the best praise you can give a book. I've never liked westerns, but thank God I plunged into these. STREETS is not has funny as LD was in parts, but otherwise, it is a very, very worthy sequel.

McMurtry shows us that not all sequels leave you unsatisfied. "Streets of Laredo" is an excellent book that shows a hero in his old age. It is both bittersweet and thrilling at the same time. We see Woodrow Call in his post-Gus McCrae days, taking on a bandit many years his junior. We see Pea Eye Parker, an unexpected choice for the last great Hat Creek member to follow Call, fighting his impulse to go on one last job with the captain. We see fear and hatred and loneliness and loss, and each emotion is conveyed in McMurtry's masterful way. McMurtry adds a special note of realism by using actual historical figures--John Wesley Hardin, often called the West's most prolific killer, Charlie Goodnight, one of the great cowboys, and Judge Roy Bean, the hanging judge, the Law West of the Pecos. He weaves these people with his fictional characters like Pea, the Captain, and Ned Brookshire to make a very effective and entrancing novel. "Streets of Laredo" is at times violent, amusing, depressing, and at all times interesting. A fine novel, and worthy of its predecessor, "Lonesome Dove." You can't go wrong with this one.