9/10First of all, coolest author's name ever. Walter Van Tilburg Clark? Are you kidding me? Awesome.
Moving on...this book is great. It started a little slow, and at first I was like, "Oh boy, some typical Western." But some typical Western it is not. Basically, a bar full of dudes catch wind that some cattle have been stolen from a nearby rancher and that the rancher has been killed. Everyone gets pretty riled up and become quite bloodthirsty and want to exact some revenge. Rather than contacting a sheriff and allowing the law to handle matters, the mob believes that they have the right and duty to capture the thieves and deal with them as the mob sees fit.
Sounds somewhat like a typical Western, right? An injustice has occurred, and a gang rides out to settle the score. However, it is when they find the three men who they believe committed the crime when it becomes clear that this isn't an ordinary Western. Are these the men who committed the crime? Several signs point to yes, but some things they say and how they act cause some in the mob to question whether these men are guilty. Led by a man who was set out to find blood at any cost, the gang is torn on whether to take the law into their own hands like they set out to do, or to wait back and let the matter follow a proper course of action. The emotional changes that take place among the men in the mob is compelling and intense. This book shows what can happen when anger and stubbornness are allowed to take a powerful hold on a group of people, often reason and common sense are ignored and discarded.
It was also made into a really good movie starring Henry Fonda.
Random quotes:
"Most men are more afraid of being thought cowards than of anything else, and a lot more afraid of being thought physical cowards than moral ones....moral courage is a lot higher quality than physical courage."
"I know better than to do what I do. I've always known better, and not done it....And that's hell; can you understand that that's hell?"
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