The Bounty Hunters audiobook

fine westernVerified Purchase(What's this?)This review is from: The Bounty Hunters (Kindle Edition)Cavalry, scouts, Indians, Federales, outlaws, murder, mayhem and a damsel in distress, what more could you want in one book? I like Leonard's westerns and liked this one almost as much as HOMBRE and VALDEZ IS COMING.

The Bounty Hunters is a good, solid western novel. If you love Zane Grey or Louis L'Amour give Dutch a try. Leonard got his start in the 1950's writing western novels and short stories.I have read many of Elmore "Dutch" Leonard's crime novels, so I gave his westerns a shot and I saw vast similarities. His crime novels are westerns that take place in the 1930's to the 2000's. While he dresses his characters in the fashions of the time and they drive cars instead of cattle it is still a wild ride with lots of gun play.

Seasoned scout Dave Flynn is partnered with the young, inexperienced Lt. Bowers on a covert mission across the border to hunt down Apache bandit Soldado. But once in Mexico, the pair find themselves in the middle of an unfolding crisis-- corrupt rurales, under the command of Duro, have subjagated a small village where Flynn has old friends, and Duro is making money off so-called Apache scalps brought in by a blood-thirsty band of bounty hunters. But the scalps don't necessarily belong to Apaches; in fact, some of the the villagers themselves have fallen prey to the nasty scalp hunters. Flynn and Bowers must set things right before they can carry out their own mission.This is Elmore Leonard's first novel, but it's not the work of an amateur by any means. Leonard had already honed his chops writing short Western stories, and the careful structure of THE BOUNTY HUNTERS gives testament to that. It's a fine piece of work, although not really replete with a lot of the things we would come to think of later as Leonard hallmarks. The dialogue doesn't snap the way his later work does, but instead performs a function at all times. The influence of Hemingway is very obvious. Like many of his other early Westerns, the last chapter is really thrilling and action-packed, with our heroes seemingly against the wall and in dire trouble, and the whole thing ends on a very satisfying note.

Leonard has done it again. Very good western with a gritty, realistic edge. The only downside was the prose was a bit too spare even for me at times. Great characters & story, though. As usual, there were some pretty jarring moments.

A classic first novel from the master.

I didn’t know this was Leonard’s first published novel until after I read it. After reading “Valdez is Coming” and “Hombre”--two fantastic westerns-- one would think there’d be a letdown, but I didn’t find that to be the case. Although it is not as tight as his later novels, it is still a fine piece of work that was thoroughly entertaining.

Se trata de una historia con una gran colección de tópicos del western, desde la escena de la barbería a los protagonistas rodeados por los apaches en un last stand. El libro se lee de un tirón porque lleva la narración en un ritmo prácticamente vertiginoso. Presenta una variedad de personajes que cubren bastantes tópicos del género: el explorador que antes fue soldado, el teniente de caballería bisoño pero fiel, los blancos cazadores de cabelleras indias, los rangers mejicanos, los tranquilos campesinos mexicanos, el villano psicópata. Una gran variedad de situaciones y de personajes, condensados en un librito de poco mas de doscientas páginas, pero bastante entretenido

Elmore Leonard’s debut novel, THE BOUNTY HUNTERS, is a classic western tale about a Civil War veteran and retired Army scout brought back into the service for a final dangerous mission: escort a green lieutenant into Mexico to bring back a renegade Apache chief. I hadn’t known Leonard got his start with Westerns (subsequently discovering the films 3:10 TO YUMA and other Western films are based on his stories) and found it a real treat.The story centers on Dave Flynn, a classic Western hero: doesn’t say much, means what he says, takes no crap from anybody, knows how to survive in the wilderness. He suspects his mission into Mexico is a fool’s errand as it was arranged by Major Deneen, with whom he shares a dark secret from the Civil War. He and the lieutenant cross paths with Apaches, undisciplined and unruly Mexican police, and a ruthless gang of bounty hunters–American desperadoes who kill Apaches and get paid by the Mexican government for each scalp. When the bounty hunters turn up with a bag of scalps that may not be Apache but instead Mexican farmers, Flynn gets embroiled between these three sides and plays them off against each other to save some local people he cares about, including a fiery and strong Mexican beauty. It’s up to Flynn to do what’s right, deliver Western justice, and save the girl.The novel was published in the 1950s, and I was happy to see how well it holds up. In my view, it flirted with but didn’t rely on racial and gender stereotypes, and our hero survives more on his wits, experience, and demeanor than he does on any seemingly superhuman capability. His sense of justice is more focused on protecting people he cares about than a stark code of justice that is never challenged by situations involving moral shades of gray. The result is a realistically delivered, solid yarn with likeable characters and Leonard’s trademark quality dialogue that holds the story together even as it occasionally plods or comes together loosely.

Very good - hard to believe that the writing career that brought us such memorable characters as Raylan Givens, Chili Palmer, and Karen Cisco has such humble beginnings. If you appreciate the works of Elmore Leonard, then read the book - it is the work of a writer who was learning and honing his craft, but it's also more.

I learned from other reviews here that 'The Bounty Hunters' is Elmore Leonard's first novel. Prior to the novel, he wrote Western short stories, and prior to that, at the same time in fact, he was a copywriter for Chevrolet, specializing in writing ad copy for Chevy trucks. Like other reviewers, I can see the influence of Hemingway on Leonard's writing, the tone and cadence. No fluff, which makes the style of this novel perfect for its frontier subject. The novel is a serious depiction of the West and its history. This depiction is more rich, nuanced, and realistic than some other popular Westerns. There is the bifurcating Western code of good and bad, and characters in either camp, clearly or more ambiguously. Leonard was the master of the fully-developed, off-beat character, and that nascent writing and discernment shows here. The novel is brutal in places, with unflinching descriptions of carnage. Innocents suffer. The bad guys vs good guys is not a show-down at high noon. It is an on-going fight, tooth and claw, wrapped around greed and human cruelty, and the forces and intrepid characters who counter those. This is a well-written and compelling page turner. Not for the weak of heart. Highly recommended.

It was slow going in a few places, but had a great payoff in the end. This was Leonard's first time out as a published author, so I'm obviously very forgiving. Even with the best of authors, I'm sure it takes a while to really find your voice and that original "thing" which makes you great. Looking forward to digging into the rest of his bibliography.

good approach to this genre

*No spoilers, I'm not like that*This was just a classic Western story to it's core from start to finish and excellently done by the great Elmore Leonard, who is seriously becoming my favourite author. I like the pace of this book and how the stories slowly progressed through the book. It was definitely a slow-burner but of course everything came around full circle. The characters are good,typical frontier types and it is very easy to get into them. Yes, the dialogue is very little and could be strectched out more, but for what it is, it's good.Now! The main part of this book that is confusing to me isn't actually the story but the actual book itself. I seen on many websites that this book has over 336 pages in it. But the one I read had 172 pages. Is there two different books? Because I'm so confused about it,hahaha.Did I read the first book? Is there a series? Or is the book with 336 pages a collection of stories under the same name? Anyway, great book, definitely recommend it.Onto the next one!The Marc Knight

I began reading Elmore Leonard with his early collections of Western stories and now conclude the Western portion of Leonard's work with, ironically, his first novel, "The Bounty Hunters." I wasn't aware "Bounty Hunters" was Leonard's first novel when I picked it up to read, but you can already see the good attributes Leonard would continue to develop into true gold as he matured. I have to say that I am somewhat sad to end Leonard's Westerns just because they are all so good. They've always been a great means for me to clean my mental palate of confusion and frustration because the good guys are good, the bad guys are bad, and there's little consternation or fretting over what needs to get done. Leonard's protagonists' live by an unfortunately outdated code of conduct where truth, honor, loyalty and duty still rule.

Excellent Western. Great characters without the BS. I've always liked Elmore Leonard's books and I've read quite a few, but all crime mysteries. This was my first Western. I liked the story, the matter of fact ness of the basically terrible things people did to each other. What I really liked were the characters. Totally straightforward without the banal development so many authors employ. A great book.

I've read at least a dozen of Leonard's crime novels but this was my first Western. It was great. The Bounty Hunters had the same fast plot and storytelling I always enjoy from his later work. Very entertaining. The only thing that detracted slightly was the omniscient narrator sometimes confused me. It wasn't always easy to tell whose head I was inside. A small detail. Overall a lot of fun. I'm interested to check out some of his other Western material now.

This is the first Western I've ever read and chose it because the author wrote "Get Shorty". I think it's well written, characters are fully developed and you can imagine yourself in the town and places where the action takes place, which is really the most a novel can do. Will definitely read more of his books.

Elmore Leonard is a master of great dialogue and perfectly dovetailing multiple storylines, and he makes both look effortless.