Best Louis L’Amour Books

Westerns, like criminal fiction, are an excellent pandemic read because they are engaging, action-packed, and simple to read. There’s a criminal fiction author for everyone, just as there’s a western or adventure novelist for everyone.

In the last few weeks, readers come across a wide spectrum of western authors who have written incredible stories set in the Wild West. While some authors portray women and other races in negative ways, these are frequently creations of their time, while some are unexpectedly progressive.

“I think of myself in the oral tradition–as a troubadour, a village tale-teller, the man in the shadows of a campfire. That’s the way I’d like to be remembered–as a storyteller. A good storyteller.” As Louis L’Amour said,

Louis L’Amour is one of the prominent writers, mostly since some of his books have been adapted into films starring the outstanding Sam Elliott. Throughout his career, he wrote dozens of short novels, so there are plenty to select from. The majority of these books are westerns, but there are a few longer epics and fantastic action adventures among them.

Check out this list if readers are seeking action-packed tales set in the Wild West with hardboiled characters.

Contents

1: Last of the Breed: A Novel

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  • Author: Louis L’Amour
  • Publisher: Bantam
  • Publication Date: June 1, 1987
  • Pages: 400

Book Description:

Major Joe Mack of the United States Air Force has a great narrative to tell. When his experimental plane crashes in Russia and he manages to flee a Soviet prison camp, he must rely on his Indian forefathers’ traditional talents to live in the vast Siberian tundra.

Mack has just one option: follow in his ancestors’ footsteps and travel overland to the Bering Strait, then across the sea to America. But a legendary tracker, Yakut native Alekhin, is on the trail, who knows every inch of the cold frontier and understands that the only way to catch his prey is to think like a Sioux.

Book Author:

Louis Dearborn L’Amour was a writer and short scriptwriter from the United States. He predominantly authored Western novels, although he also dabbled in historical fiction, science fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and short story collections. More than 300 million copies of his novels have been printed around the globe.

Our Opinion:

This novel was largely written in the first person, but it did go to a few other characters at points to tell the story. This was a fantastic book for me. It’s a long novel, but it was difficult to put down.

2: The Walking Drum (Louis L’Amour’s Lost Treasures): A Novel

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  • Author: Louis L’Amour
  • Publisher: Bantam
  • Publication Date: October 29, 2019
  • Pages: 571

Book Description:

Kerbouchard is a brave seeker of knowledge and fortune who is embarking on a quest of immense difficulty, threat, and vengeance.

Kerbouchard is plunged into the treacheries, passions, brutality, and brilliant delights of a great moment as he travels through Europe, over the Russian steppes, and through the Byzantine wonders of Constantinople.

From a castle to a slave galley, from sword-strewn battlefields to a princess’s private chamber, there’s something for everyone. The Walking Drum is a fantastic journey through an ancient cosmos.

Our Opinion:

I had previously read this book, which had been lent to me. I opted to buy a copy since it was so fantastic; it really keeps you fascinated until the very last page.

3: The Collected Short Stories of Louis L’Amour, Volume 1: Frontier Stories

The Collected Short Stories

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  • Author: Louis L’Amour
  • Publisher: Bantam
  • Publication Date: April 29, 2014
  • Pages: 560

Book Description:

Thirty-five action-packed Frontier Stories are included in The Collected Short Stories. It is the first in a series of nine paperbacks that will deliver all of L’Amour’s short fiction to his millions of readers across the world, including a two-part volume of Adventure Stories and a two-part volume of Crime Stories.

Our Opinion:

These stories are short enough that he can read them all in one sitting. He’s picked up his book again and is thoroughly enjoying it. I’ve already purchased the next volume for him.

4: Down the Long Hills: A Novel

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  • Author: Louis L’Amour
  • Publisher: Bantam
  • Publication Date: September 1, 1984
  • Pages: 178

Book Description:

Hardy and Betty Sue were alone with nothing but a horse and a dagger after the carnage to confront the wilderness’s long war. Stuck on the endless grassland with a seven-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl. Hunger, invading Indians, vicious outlaws, and wild creatures were all on their minds. They were tenacious, but the odds were stacked against them, and their good fortune was running out.

Our Opinion:

The plot is quite fascinating, and there is a lot of useful life lessons for young people. He must have wished to impart his knowledge to his own children.

5: Hondo: A Novel

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  • Author: Louis L’Amour
  • Publisher: Bantam
  • Publication Date: April 1, 1983
  • Pages: 240

Book Description:

He was a large, wide man who knew the Apache traditions as well as the methods of keeping alive, imprinted by the desert’s howling winds.

On a rural Arizona ranch, she was a single mother with a small son. Between Hondo Lane and Angie Lowe stood Vittorio, a fighter whose people were planning a revolt over the white man. The peasant woman, the gunman, and the Apache warrior are now embroiled in a passion, battle, and pride story.

Our Opinion:

I had the classic case of ‘seen the movie but never read the book,’ and I wanted to rectify that. I’m overjoyed that I did.

6: Sackett’s Land (Sacketts Book 1)

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  • Author: Louis L’Amour
  • Publisher: Bantam
  • Publication Date: September 30, 2003
  • Pages: 208

Book Description:

Barnabas Sackett invests eagerly in things that he will offer for commerce in America after discovering six gold Roman coins buried in the muck of the Devil’s Dyke. Sackett, on the other hand, has a tremendous foe in the form of Rupert Genester, who wants him dead. Sackett’s inheritance is threatened by a battlefield pledge made to his father. Sackett is attacked and thrown into the hold of a pirate ship on the eve of his departure for America.

Sackett, though, makes his way to the Carolina coast after escaping. He sees the potential of a bright future in the raw, rich land. But before he can accomplish his goal, he must first return to England and unravel the mystery surrounding his father’s legacy.

Our Opinion:

A fantastic novel by a much-missed writer. The first book in the Sackett saga, and a must-read for those who, like me, have read them all.

7: Tucker: A Novel

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  • Author: Louis L’Amour
  • Publisher: Bantam
  • Publication Date: December 1, 1984
  • Pages: 240

Book Description:

Shell Tucker rode out after three men who had robbed his father’s twenty thousand dollars. Two of the persons he was hunting were buddies of his. Tucker had aspired to be a part of their gang, thinking of excitement.

Shell was resolved to preserve his father’s legacy and collect their money now that his father was gone and the folks back home were in severe need of the cattle drive cash.

Our Opinion:

I adore this book and have read it several times. L’Amour’s attention to detail is unrivaled. The greatest western author of all time.

8: Reilly’s Luck (Louis L’Amour’s Lost Treasures): A Novel

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  • Author: Louis L’Amour
  • Publisher: Bantam
  • Publication Date: August 27, 2019
  • Pages: 317

Book Description:

Val Darrant was only four years old when his mother abandoned him on a snowy night. He didn’t meet a lonely end, though; instead, he met Will Reilly. For ten years, they were each other’s entire family, journeying from dusty American boomtowns to gilded cities of Belle Époque Europe until Reilly’s luck ran out in a hail of gunshots.

One that would force him to confront the person he most dreads seeing: his mother. Val must conclude this last brutal chapter of his history with the help of a beautiful, street-smart rancher and the lady who was Will Reilly’s lost love before he can turn the page on an uncertain future.

Our Opinion:

This is one of L’Amour’s most well-known works. It contains all of the elements that have made him a literary icon in the West. Coming of age, philosophy, western values, action, and a tinge of romance are all themes explored in this film.

9: The Haunted Mesa (Louis L’Amour’s Lost Treasures): A Novel

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  • Author: Louis L’Amour
  • Publisher: Bantam
  • Publication Date: October 1, 2019
  • Pages: 472

Book Description:

The Navajo referred to them as the Anasazi, or “old adversary,” and their abandoned cities may still be found in the Southwest’s canyons and plateaus.

The unexpected vanishing of these people perplexed historians for generations. Mike Raglan is lured into a world of mystery, brutality, and shocking disclosures after being summoned to a dark desert plateau by a frantic letter from an old friend.

He will learn about the amazing Anasazi world and find the most unusual frontier ever discovered by crossing a border beyond the laws of man and nature.

Our Opinion:

I read this book in 1988 or 1989 and was blown away by its quality. It was not merely a fantastic, well-written story.

10: High Lonesome: A Novel

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  • Author: Louis L’Amour
  • Publisher: Bantam
  • Publication Date: September 1, 1982
  • Pages: 176

Book Description:

Pete Runyon and Considine used to be buddies. However, when Runyon married the woman Considine adored, the two fell out of love. Runyon became a sheriff after settling down. Considine became a bank robber.

Considine is now plotting a bank robbery at Obaro, a scheme that will pit him against Runyon and result in either riches or suicide. On his way to a new life, he never expected to meet a powerful woman and her obstinate father while traveling alone through Apache country. Considine is forced to choose between vengeance and redemption, and either decision could be his last.

Our Opinion:

This article has swiftly risen to the top of my L’Amour top ten list. An unhappy outlaw discovers a reason to return to his former self as a nice guy, but it comes at a high cost.

11: The Collected Short Stories of Louis L’Amour, Volume 2: Frontier Stories

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  • Author: Louis L’Amour
  • Publisher: Bantam
  • Publication Date: August 26, 2014
  • Pages: 592

Book Description:

This second book includes thirty additional famous American frontier stories. Like a teenage boy sent out alone into a snowstorm to face a terrible stampede or a cop who discovers the bullet-riddled body of a notorious Mexican bandit and realizes that his duty requires him to follow down a far more dangerous predator.

Men and women at the crossroads of friendship and mistrust, loyalty, and treachery are captured in this anthology.

Our Opinion:

As a child and as an adult, I never studied much, if at all. I would either be uninterested or fall asleep after a few paragraphs.

12: Mistakes Can Kill You: A Collection of Western Stories

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  • Author: Louis L’Amour
  • Publisher: Skyhorse
  • Publication Date: February 4, 2014
  • Pages: 264

Book Description:

Mistakes Can Kill You features nine prior narratives, some of which were published under the pen name Jim Mayo, that demonstrate the rough morality of the best Western writing.

Two men ready to kill over the possession of property get more than they bargained for when a stranger gets caught in the crossfire in “Black Rock Coffin-Makers.

” In “Four-Card Draw,” Allen Ring wins a ranch in a poker game, only to discover that the property has been the scene of a suspicious death for decades, and law authorities suspect Ring knows more about it than he’s letting on.

Our Opinion:

Another excellent collection of western tales from the founder of western fiction. There is no other western author who can make you feel as though you are a participant in the story you are reading.

13: Mustang Man (Sacketts Book 10)

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  • Author: Louis L’Amour
  • Publisher: Bantam
  • Publication Date: September 30, 2003
  • Pages: 176

Book Description:

Penelope Hume drew Nolan Sackett’s attention instantly when they met in a cantina at Borregos Plaza. The fact that she was the heir of a long-lost gold cache didn’t make her any less alluring. Penelope isn’t the only one wanting her grandfather’s money; distant cousins with no legal claim to the gold are hell-bent on seizing it for themselves.

Their irrational sense of entitlement leads them to commit ambush and murder. Even if Sackett and Penelope manage to elude these lethal three and locate the canyon where the gold is concealed, Indian mythology claims that no birds or insects will be able to thrive there. It is said to be filled with human bones.

Our Opinion:

Our favorite author is Louis Lamour. Almost all of his books have been read or listened to by us. Anything he’s written is highly recommended.

14: Fallon (Louis L’Amour’s Lost Treasures): A Novel

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  • Author: Louis L’Amour
  • Publisher: Bantam
  • Publication Date: May 28, 2019
  • Pages: 224

Book Description:

Macon Fallon had never required much more than a deck of cards, a quick horse, and a quick rifle, and he was banking on them now as he led a party of settlers to an abandoned mining town. But, as Fallon prepared to sell the ghost town as a gold mine in the making, a true community began to emerge in the town he’d named Red Horse.

When a gang of ruthless outlaws and a child who pretended to be a gunslinger threatened to break Red Horse apart, Fallon found himself in a situation he’d never expected to find himself in.

He’d gone to Red Horse with the intention of making a quick buck, but now he might have to pick up a pistol and sacrifice his life for a place he didn’t want to call home.

Our Opinion:

Mr. L’Amour’s Fallon is one of my favorite books. I’m going to keep reading his books till the day I die.

FAQs:

Which of Louis L’Amour’s books is the most popular?

Last of the Breed: A Novel is considered to be Louis L’Amour’s most popular publication.

What is the real name of Louis L’Amour?

Louis Dearborn Lamoure is the real name of Louis L’Amour.

What is the title of Louis L’Amour’s first book?

Westward The Tide, published by World’s Work in 1951, was L’Amour’s debut novel under his own name.

Louis L’Amour authored how many Western books?

Mr. L’Amour has written 101 books, the majority of which are thoroughly researched and fast-paced Western tales.

How many novels does Louis L’Amour have in his hardcopy selection?

111 volumes from the Louis L’Amour had in his hardcopy selection.

Name the Louis L’Amour genres on which he frequently used to write.

Western, science fiction, adventure, non-fiction are some yet most authored genres by the Louis L’Amour.

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