Rio Largo

by David Robbins and Ralph Compton

FEUDING FRI : S For years, the Circle T ranch and the D/P ranch have existed in Sweet Grass Valley. Separated by the Rio Largo river, both ranches have managed to prosper-mostly due to the ranch owners Kent Tovey and Dar Pierce, who are the best of friends. But all that is about to be challenged. Two new ranch hands are fomenting a cycle of violence between the ranches-with a ruthless gang waiting to pick their bones clean after they destroy one another...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451219392
• ISBN13: 9780451219398
• Release Date: September 2006
• Publisher: Signet Book
• Length: 298 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.1" x 6.8"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 12 and higher

Customer Reviews

Laces old-style storytelling with modern sensibilities

Kent Tovey and Dar Pierce run the "Circle T" and "D.P." ranches, respectively, on opposite sides of the Río Largo ("long river"). Technically, they're competitors, but since there is enough land for each to run his ranch successfully, they often help each other out and have become friends. Workers for each ranch are told to be polite to the other ranch's workers, and to only go for cattle that have crossed over once the other ranchers have been notified, to avoid any suspicion of rustling. But an impulsive act leads to a murder, which leads to more, with each side accusing the other without searching for evidence. When one of the ranch owners is found with his face half-shot off, it's war. Author David Robbins's tough and forceful prose was the first thing I liked about Rio Largo. Later, I was impressed by how the author laces his old-style storytelling with modern sensibilities. Any ranch worth its salt is going to have a high percentage of cowboys and vaqueros who are experienced gunhands. But Tovey and Pierce seem to have hired more than their fair share of hardened killers. The newest hire, Hijino, is a breed to himself, however -- the closest thing to a serial killer I've encountered in a tale of the Old West. Robbins is also an expert at creating suspense, as his characters find out information and -- as they try to piece together who is behind the sabotage -- quickly realize that no one is safe. (Robbins also doesn't shy away from chronicling the effects of the bloodshed on loved ones.) Entirely despicable, Hijino is also the most purely entertaining character in Rio Largo, simply due to his unpredictability. While the other denizens of the Circle T and D.P. are mostly loyal to their employers, there is underlying racism among a selection of the cowhands. Also, some of the Pierce children (half-Mexican by Dar's wife Juanita) just know that the "gringos" are behind it. But Hijino schemes entirely for his own purposes, and you just never know what he'll do next. One thing is for sure: he'll let no one get in his way. Reader Joel Leffert's performance deserves a great deal of the credit for how much I enjoyed this book. From the youngest woman to the oldest man, his voices are individual and authentic. But this only enhanced the experience wrought by Robbins himself. Despite being published under the "Ralph Compton" mantle, this is no throwaway series novel but a possible contender for the mantle of modern classic. "Fill your hand" with a copy of Rio Largo.

Don't pass this one by

The Circle T and the DP are seperated by the Rio Largo. Their owners have grown their herds, wealth and friendship. But this peace is to be shattered as two new ranch hands start a bloody feud between the ranch owners - and a ruthless gang waits to pick up the pieces. David Robbins has written one of his best Ralph Compton novels in this book. A book filled with vivid imagery, Hijino, in particular, painting a striking figure whenever he appeared. The book builds almost gently at the start as we're introduced to the main characters, then as suspicion and mistrust is fuelled between the once friendly ranchers and cowboys, the violence begins to escalate in frequency and brutality until the running, bloody, battles of the end. This is a very hard book to put down, each page I read urging me to read more, to find out just who would survive, come out on top. Very highly recommended!