Reilly's Luck

by Louis L'Amour

2002

Status

Available

Genres

All Topics

Fiction

Collection

Standard Shelves

Publication

Bantam Books (2002)

Description

Fiction. Western. Thriller. Historical Fiction. HTML:Val Darrant was just four years old the snowy night his mother abandoned him. But instead of meeting a lonely death, he met Will Reilly�a gentleman, a gambler, and a worldly, self-taught scholar. For ten years they each were all the family the other had, traveling from dusty American boomtowns to the glittering cities of Belle �poque Europe�until the day Reilly�s luck ran out in a roar of gunfire. But it wasn�t a gambling brawl or a pack of thieves that sealed Will�s fate. It was a far more complex story that Val would soon uncover�one that would bring him face-to-face with the one person he least wants to see: his mother. With the help of a beautiful, street-smart rancher and the woman who was Will Reilly�s lost love, Val must close this last cruel chapter of his past before he can turn the page on an uncertain future.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member jimmaclachlan

I had fond memories of this novel & should have kept them. Beau Bridges read the book. His gravelly voice was OK for some parts, but the women's voices were horrible & a couple of women had very important parts in the novel. Still, he was OK for the adult male parts & was acceptable for the

boy's.

Unfortunately, the plot was full of convenience. OK, the end needed to be a convenient great meeting, but there were far too many others scattered throughout the story which skipped through time like a thrown stone. It could have used fleshing out in more than a few places. Instead, we're just told that "it was so" & usually that was the achievement of some skill that took a lot of practice, but there never seemed to be the time for it. Perfect heroes give me a pain, too.

For all the spare writing & speed of the story line, L'Amour managed to repeat himself endlessly on the attributes & motivations of the characters as if the repetition would make them more believable. Didn't work.

Overall, the story is a good one, but the execution just failed in this format & time.

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LibraryThing member MerryMary

Val has had an unusual upbringing. Abandoned by his mother, who found him inconvenient, he is raised by a gentlemanly gambler. Now he is grown, his benefactor is dead by treachery, and Val must decide the path his life will follow.

LibraryThing member edspicer

The story begins slowly but progresses towards an interesting ending. This story is of a young boy whose mother wanted nothing to do with him, and had wanted Val Durrant abandoned or left in the cold to die but Van brought Val to Will Reilly who raised Val tell Reilly was shot and killed. I choses

this book because my grandpa suggested it to me.

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LibraryThing member Whiskey3pa

A good cowboy story. An orphan is left to die by his mother and is taken in by a gambler. Worthwhile reading.

LibraryThing member longhorndaniel

another excellent story by a favorite; easy a; fun and fast read

LibraryThing member fuzzi

I've read almost every book L'Amour wrote, and as far as I am concerned this is not one of the author's better works. Though parts were good it dragged at times, and I debated if I should give it 2 1/2 or 3 stars.

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