"Ride the River" by Louis L'Amour

This Sackett book is mostly from the point of view of Echo Sackett, a sixteen-year-old girl on a mission: she needs to collect a sizable inheritance left her by the descendants of a friend of her forebear Kin Sackett.  She has to go to Philadelphia to get it, and on the way home to the mountains of Tennessee, she's waylaid repeatedly by rogues cutthroats, and thugs determined to steal her money.  But Echo is a Sackett, and she has a handy guy named Dorian Chantry and another called Archie along to sort of chaperone her on her way home, and the three of them all take turns proving to each other just how surprisingly handy they can be in a tight spot.

I absolutely loved Echo Sackett.  She put me in mind of Mattie Ross from True Grit by Charles Portis, but more capable and determined and savvy yet.  Not to mention sweeter and kinder.

Since I love Borden Chantry, I was excited to have a couple Chantrys play such a big role in this!  L'Amour put Chantrys in quite a few of his books, which tickles me :-)

Particularly Good Bits:

"Do not let yourself be bothered by the inconsequential.  One has only so much time in this world, so devote it to the work and the people most important to you, to those you love and things that matter" (p. 38).

"How many are there?  Of the Sacketts, I mean?"
"Nobody rightly knows, but even one Sackett is quite a few" (p. 160).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG for some scattered mild cussing, some violence, and lots of perilous circumstances.

This is my 28th book read from my TBR shelves for #TheUnreadShelfProject2023.