"The Tall Stranger" by Louis L'Amour

Well, boy howdy.

I grabbed this book off my shelf at random on my way out the door to my daughter's swimming lessons one day, solely because it fit in my back pocket and I was in the mood for a western.  And it did not disappoint.  By page two, I was in love with Rock Bannon.  I think it was this bit that got me:

He had neither woman nor child, nor anyone anywhere.  He had a horse and a saddle, a ready gun and a mind filled with lore of the trail, and eyes ever fixed on something he wanted, something faint and indistinct in outline, ever distant, yet ever real.  Only of late, as he rode alone on the far flank of the wagon train, had that something begun to take shape and outline, and the shape was that of Sharon Crockett (p. 6).  

Rock Bannon isn't an original member of this wagon train.  He crossed their path one day, shot full of holes, and they nursed him back to health.  Out of gratitude, he's remained with the train and protected them through some pretty tough situations.  Well, gratitude coupled with that growing interest in Sharon Crockett.  Of course, there are some bad guys trying to use this wagon train for their own nefarious purposes.  Danger arrives in several different doses, from several different directions, but the book winds up in a very satisfying way.

So, yeah, I chowed through this book in just a couple of days.  It got very tense in spots, but was so short and streamlined that there was never time for me to get worried or stressed out.  Instead, it sucked me merrily along to the finish line.

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG for some western violence.  Possibly a couple of mild cusswords, though I can't recall any.  I would let my tween and teen read it.

This is my 45th book read off my TBR shelves for #TheUnreadShelfProject2021.