Hombre

AN ALL TIME CLASSIC READ!!!!!!!

HOMBRE by Elmore Leonard is a modern day masterpiece of historical fiction. It not only celebrates the life of an imaginary hero, but it brings to the reader’s attention all that is good, gracious and upstanding about what it means to be American. The book starts out relatively slowly but it possesses one of the most riveting, suspenseful climaxes you will ever find yourself attached to.

The reader may well find themselves unsure about the qualities that comprise this man “Hombre”. We learn a little of his past, and a little of his past associations as the story unveils itself. But even though the book is named after this character, it is really only at book’s end do we find out why.

Mr Leonard’s writing style and his immense talents are used to maximum effect here. On one level we are reading what life must have been like in a frontier town, but then you realise how multi faceted that phrase really is. Frontier of civilisation? Frontier of reasonableness? Frontier of morals? Frontier, even, of sanity? Yes to all of the above.

Elmore Leonard was known as a member of the Crime Fiction Royal Family and his heritage in that genre almost shines through in this one. A not entirely unexpected event happens to a stage coach in the middle of a hot and windy desert, but with an apparently unassuming cast of characters playing the innocent “victims” it is not long before you realise the book you are holding is something of a chameleon.

This is a great read. The ending is brilliant, emotional, awe inspiring stuff that may well change the directions of your reading patterns for months on end. But hey - that is what books are for!

Full marks for this beauty.

BFN Greggorio.