Book Review - 'Appaloosa' by Robert B. Parker

‘Appaloosa’ by Robert B. Parker

This is the second time I’ve read ‘Appaloosa’, which I came to after watching the film of the same name starring Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen; it’s the one and only Parker book I’ve read.

‘When Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch arrive in Appaloosa, they find a town suffering at the hands of a renegade rancher who’s already left the city marshal and one of his deputies dead. Cole and Hitch are used to cleaning up after scavengers, but this one raises the stakes by playing not with the rules – but with emotion.’

The story begins with a prologue, which, in a couple of short scenes reveals the dire situation in the town of Appaloosa.

From the first chapter onwards, the story is then told in first person by Everett Hitch who, like his father, had been to West Point, and ‘was good at soldiering. But soldiering didn’t allow too much for the expansion of the soul. So after five years… I turned in my commission and rode away to see how far I could expand it.’

He tells of the first time he sees Virgil Cole, ‘… a tall man… wearing a black suit… badge pinned to his white shirt. Very dignified and deliberate, he stepped off the boardwalk into the street…’ ready to escort a troublemaker to jail.

Everett decides to stand with Cole when the troublemaker resists, urged on by his friends who appear intent on backing him.

And that’s how Everett ‘got to be a peace officer and Virgil Cole’s deputy…’ and, according to Everett, here’s what they do…
‘“Virgil gets hired to settle things down in towns that need settling, and I go with him, and after the town gets settled, then we move on and find another town that needs settling.”’

Fifteen years later, they ride into Appaloosa, where the thing that needs settling is the lawless behaviour of local rancher Randall Bragg and his men who, literally, use the town and townsfolk for their own benefit in whatever way they please.

Cole agrees to help but only if the town aldermen make laws that he tells them to, so he and Everett can do their job.

Although reluctant to hand over their town to the pair, the aldermen agree as the only alternative is to hand it to Bragg instead.

Before long, Bragg comes into town to have a chat with Cole, ‘“… to make an arrangement…You have a suggestion, Marshall?”’

To which Cole points him to the set of town bylaws posted outside the door of the saloon, and all that’s required of Bragg’s men is to abide by them.

‘“And if they don’t?” he said.
“Then I arrest them.”
“And if they don’t go along?”
“I shoot them… Or Everett does.”
… “That’s your idea of an arrangement?” Bragg said…
“The law is all the arrangement there is,” Cole said.
“Your law,” Bragg said.
“Same thing,”’

Of course, every Western has to have a woman; enter Mrs Allison French who arrives in Appaloosa on the train, ‘… a little travel-worn, but still good-looking, with a strong young body that her dress didn’t hide.’

Allie, as she prefers to be called, although charming, has a needy streak, which leads her to attach herself to whoever is in power… and that is clearly Virgil Cole.

The plot – how Cole and Everett go about settling things in Appaloosa – is simple and effective, very much a classic Western, in my opinion.

Parker’s plain and straightforward style doesn’t waste any time getting to the point of the story, which is told in about 290 pages (in my copy).

He doesn’t spend paragraphs talking about the main shoot-out that occurs, using sparse, tight description that tells us what we need to know in about half a page, giving the impression of it being over soon after it’s begun.

What I enjoyed most were the characters, especially the two main ones, and the dialogue.

I’ll talk about the dialogue first, which conveys most of the story.

Not having read any other books by Parker, I don’t know if this kind of dialogue is something he excels at.

And by ‘this kind of dialogue’, I mean the kind that sounds as if its alive, like in this exchange between Cole and Everett; while watching a couple of riders far off who are obviously watching the town, the pair talk about Allie…
‘“She was asking me a lot about you, Virgil.”
“She was. Was she asking in a liking way?”
“Wanted to know if you were married,” I said…
“She did, did she. By God. What’d you tell her.”
“Said I didn’t know.”
“Well, hell, Everett,” Cole said. “You see a wife around here?”
“I don’t.”
“Then why the hell you tell her you didn’t know…”
“Well, Allie says she’s going to ask you, so you might want to have an answer ready.”
He looked at me and frowned a little. “She’s going to ask me if I been married?”
“I think she’s more interested in if you are presently married.”’

After a bit more back-and-forth, Cole mentions the horsemen… ‘“Been there since dawn… Riding back and forth, looking at the town…”
“Whaddya think?” I said.
“I think Mrs French might become exclusively interesting,” Cole said.
“Whaddya think about the men in the hills?” I said.
“I think you and me might want to ride up and see what they’re doing up there.”
“Can I finish my coffee first?”
“You surely may,” Cole said.’

From what I can remember, most of the dialogue from the book is used in the film with little change, which is surely a good indication as to the quality of the dialogue.

On to the characters.

Parker has written Cole and Everett as complex men with distinct, interesting personalities, who share a strong bond built over the years on a solid base of trust, respect, and loyalty.

Virgil Cole is a man of few words, but his skill at assessing situations, especially dangerous ones, is excellent, and there’s nothing flashy about his manner.

While their job requires them to kill people, Cole stands by law and order and only kills within the bounds of that, although he’s prone to unexpected outbursts of temper, which can turn terribly violent.

Despite having sound judgement in most areas of his life, that judgement dissipates in the presence of a good-looking woman.

My favourite character is Everett Hitch, possibly because he’s the narrator and, so, we get to know him better.

He is made of stern stuff and there’s no questioning his bravery, but he isn’t reckless.

What I particularly like about his character is how well he reads other people.

The biggest drawback for me is, while Parker has elevated Cole and Everett beyond the expected Western trope, the other characters are very much stock characters that one expects to find in this genre; even the town is the same as any town in any Western one reads about or sees in a film.

Having said that, it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of this Western.

It was only after reading ‘Appaloosa’ did I discover it’s the first in a series of stories featuring Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch, although it works as a standalone.

Parker wrote a total of four in the series before his death, and the rest are written by Robert Knott.

I’d read the second, ‘Resolution’, soon after my first reading of ‘Appaloosa’, but, strangely, I wasn’t that taken with it though I can’t remember why.

I don’t know if I’ll ever get around to reading the rest in the series, but one thing I do know is that ‘Appaloosa’ will remain one of my favourite Westerns.