Brief Thoughts 16

The Haunted Mesa by Louis L'Amour

Louis L'Amour is best known for his westerns. He's probably the most famous author of westerns in the world. I had read his novel Hondo and enjoyed it. I decided to take a look at this horror title of his.

The story revolves around a debunker of the paranormal named Mike Raglan. When his friend, Erik Hokart, sends a letter desperately pleading for help, he heads out to Arizona where Hokart was building a home out in the desert. He discovers that out in the desert, there's a portal to another world.

This novel read to me more like a mystery than a horror novel. There's a lot of creeping dread towards the beginning, but for the most part it focuses on Raglan picking up clues to figure out where Hokart went. The biggest problem with the book is that it drags a lot during the middle. Raglan is constantly asking himself questions, which gets annoying really fast, and a chunk of the middle involves him waffling when he's discovered where Hokart has disappeared to.

For all the dread the book tries to build up of the other world the titular mesa leads to, it's not really scary nor even particularly odd. This is probably why this book gets called science fiction most of the time. You forget this book was supposed to be in any way scary towards the end.

Still, when the action picks up, it's fun to read. The mystery plot, while too slow in the middle, is actually pretty solid and suspenseful.

This probably isn't the best place to begin with Louis L'Amour, but if you've read his other novels and enjoyed them, then this is worth a read.

Buy The Haunted Mesa by Louis L'Amour here. 

Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini  

While I've been a fan of pirates and sea adventures since I was a kid, I don't recall reading many books about them back then. I recently read and enjoyed Treasure Island, the book that established most known pirate cliches, and I started looking for some more. This book was high on a lot of "best pirate book" lists. It's easy to see why.

The story is about Peter Blood, an Irish doctor and former soldier. When he's found to be giving medical attention to English rebels, he's arrested and sold into slavery in Barbados. Through a mixture of ingenuity and luck, he escapes with several other slaves and takes to the sea to become a pirate.

This book was just fun to read. It moved at a good pace, had a lot of great humor, great action, Captain Blood is a very likable character, and it leaves you feeling satisfied after you've read it. This is the kind of thing you want out of an adventure novel like this.

I really enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it. Sabatini's done several other adventure novels, including a sequel to this one, and I'll be sure to check those out as well.

Buy Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini here.