Escape from Five Shadows by Elmore Leonard

Escape from Five Shadows by Elmore Leonard
Dell #940, Copyright 1956

Most know that Elmore Leonard cut his teeth writing Western stories. For a young man that grew up in Detroit, he sure supplied the reader with a palpable portrayal of the Arizona Territory in the 1880s. "The Law at Randado" was my first Leonard Western novel. That was many years ago and at that time I thought I stumbled upon a Western that was different from the generic ones that I had been reading. The impact that "Randado" left on me made me seek out Leonard's other early Westerns. And I have read them all. One that is near the top on the list is "Escape from Five Shadows." It's filled with a wide variety of morally different characters stuck and struggling in a harsh piece of the dusty Arizona landscape.

Salvaje looked at his men. There were ten trackers here, and now he watched them remove their army-issue shirts and pants, stripping to breechclouts, then slipping on their cartridge bandoleers again. All of them wore curl-toed Apache moccasins folded and tied just below the knee: and to a man they carried single-shot Springfield carbines.
When they were ready, Salvaje nodded, and they moved off to take the escaped man.

Cory Bowen has been wronged, sent to prison for stealing cattle which he had no involvement in. He's been farmed out of Yuma prison, along with a handful of other prisoners, to work on territory road construction, which the Government has contracted to an iron-fisted independent named Frank Renda. The prisoners are housed in a makeshift convict camp called Five Shadows and Renda holds them there with a few guards, a ruthless gunhand, and a dozen Mimbre Apache police. Posted to watch over the Government's investment is the cowardly Willis Falvey, whom Renda has wrapped around his finger. Together they have been skimming off the money that the Government has allocated for the prisoners' care and the road work. It's become a profitable business for them, at the prisoners expense. Bowen escapes early in the novel and the Mimbre Apache trackers drag him back to Five Shadows. Renda gives him a beating and month's worth of brutal punishment. This is when the novel really takes a turns and we learn that through Bowen, others seek ways to form their own means of escape. And the others are not the prisoners. There is the wife of Falvey, who wants out of this stinking dead end part of Arizona. A girl that lives with her father at the nearby stage station, who is determined to get another trial for Bowen. And my favorite, the Mimbre leader named Salvaje, who is the most righteous and pure character in the whole story.

Not to give anything away, I'll just say that there is an opportunity for Bowen to plan another dangerous escape. Of course he takes it and this intertwines all characters, for some the results offer a weighed relief and for others there is contriteness. The risk for Bowen is great because a new trial is granted for him and he doesn't know it. Getting caught this time means death. "Escape from Five Shadows" isn't Elmore Leonard's best Western novel. (It's tough to compete with his later classics -"Valdez is Coming" and "Hombre") But it is still a well above average one and there is plenty to like in it. First is the remarkable picture of the old Arizona West that Leonard paints for the reader. The smells of horse, leather and dust get in your nostrils. Frank Renda and his gunhand are diabolical, and for some reason I find these characters compelling as hell. Elmore Leonard has Bowen being tormented by these two. He takes a lot of punishment, but remains determined to get out. (I guess that is the will of an innocent man) The best scene is without a doubt when the Mimbre Apache trackers are hunting down Bowen after his first escape. It happens early in the novel and it turns into a game of respect and bravery. A wonderful action snapshot episode in the novel.

I enjoyed this Elmore Leonard novel, but that's easy for me to say because he is one of my favorite Western writers. I have always wished he had written more Westerns. I prefer them over his crime fiction. I have hope that he will write another. It's been too long of a wait.

Valdez is Coming by Elmore Leonard

Valdez is Coming by Elmore Leonard
Fawcett Gold Medal T2918, Copyright 1970

" Just a little war, if he wants it," Valdez said.

As most Elmore Leonard fans know, the author started out writing short stories for Western magazines and his first novels were Westerns. In 1961, Elmore Leonard wrote a short story for Western Roundup called "Only Good Ones." Later in the decade, he was looking for an idea for a new novel and started searching over his past work. He took "Only Good Ones," made it the first chapter in his book and wrote the classic Western novel, "Valdez is Coming."

Powerful Frank Tanner and his men have a suspected Army deserter and his Apache wife trapped in a shack. Seems this deserter killed a friend of Tanner's six months earlier, and he wants him dead. It's turning into a big spectacle as humble Bob Valdez, a part-time constable from the Mexican side of town, arrives at the scene. Valdez goes down to talk the man into giving himself up. Tanner's men start firing and Valdez is forced to kill the man to protect himself. The man turns out not to be the one Tanner was after. Later, Valdez wants to take up a collection for the widowed Apache wife, but gets plenty of hostility from Frank Tanner on that idea. On one trip to see Tanner about the money, Valdez is ridiculed, humiliated, and left to wander and die bound to a wooden crosspole. But Valdez survives, and when he comes back he comes back as a different Bob Valdez. A Valdez from the past....

Valdez brought up the barrels of the Remington from his lap, and with the ten-bore explosion close in from of him, the Mexican came out of the saddle...His eyes were open and he had his left arm tight to his side.The shotgun charge had torn through his side at the waist.
Valdez smiled, "You ride to Mr. Tanner, all right? Tell him Valdez is coming. You hear what I said? Valdez is coming. But listen friend, I think you better go there quick."

Valdez enters Tanner's compound and kidnaps his woman. His plan is simple, "If I have something he wants, then maybe we make a trade. Give me the money and I give you your woman." Tanner and his men go after Valdez, but they find that isn't so easy. Valdez and the woman develop a respectful and sympathetic relationship during the ordeal, which Leonard gracefully presents to the reader. This isn't a story about vengeance, it's about correcting a wrong, a noble attempt to seek justice. Valdez is a modest man, who possesses a hidden courage to do what is right. This is a profound novel, with dynamic characters -some displaying a nature of extreme brutality, and others showing compassion and sensitivity. It's flawlessly written and has one of the best (and traditionally different) endings I read in any Western novel.
Truly an American Western Classic....

Elmore Leonard's Western novels should be revered and not forgotten. He wrote eight excellent ones and you can't go wrong reading any of them. Besides this novel, my other personal favorites are "Hombre" (the classic Apache-raised John Russell story) and "Forty Lashes Less One." (a Yuma prison story) It's been 30 years since Elmore Leonard wrote a Western novel, and that's too long. I hunger for another one. I hope he will reward us again.

"The Bounty Hunters" (1953)
"The Law at Randado" (1954)
"Escape from Five Shadows" (1956)
"Last Stand at Saber River" (1959)
"Hombre" (1961)
"Valdez is Coming" (1970)
"Forty Lashes Less One" (1972)
"Gunsights" (1979)

Mr. Majestyk by Elmore Leonard

Mr. Majestyk by Elmore Leonard
Dell paperback, Copyright 1974

Just a quick note.

Just saw the Bronson movie, last time was in the 70s. Thought back about when I read the paperback and dug it out. I remember after I first read it, I hunted for Leonard's westerns for some reason. (which I'm glad I did)

Bronson is "the real deal" in the film and he has some great lines, but the novel is extremely good. More depth with the Vince Majestyk character, better storyline and descriptive action against the organized crime guys. It might of been my first Leonard book I read. Got me hooked.

Elmore Leonard's screenplay was exactly what Hollywood was looking for in the 1970s- action, wise comebacks by the good guy, girl meets guy, etc...,but his novelization packs a punch. I almost forgot about the novel. You paint a different character of Majestyk when you read the book. I love Bronson, but I like the book character much more.
(Actor Al Lettieri, as Frank Renda in the film, was exceptional.)

Last week completed Leonard's "Forty Lashes Less One" -Very good, with an excellent ending.