The Sackett Brand

Written by Louis L'Amour

Narrated by David Strathairn

In The Sackett Brand, Louis L'Amour spins the story of a courageous man who must face overwhelming odds to track down a killer.

Tell Sackett and his bride, Ange, came to Arizona to build a home and start a family. But on Black Mesa something goes terribly wrong. Tell is ambushed and badly injured. When he finally manages to drag himself back to where he left Ange, she is gone. Desperate, cold, hungry, and with no way to defend himself, Tell is stalked like a wounded animal. Hiding from his attackers, his rage and frustration mounting, he tries to figure out who the men are, why they are trying to kill him, and what has happened to his wife. Discovering the truth will be risky. And when he finally does, it will be their turn to run.

From the Paperback edition.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio
• Release date: Nov 22, 2005
• ISBN: 9780739334447

Reviews for The Sackett Brand

[fuzzi_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Tell Sackett is hunted by the hired guns of a cattle baron who is trying to cover up a crime. Can Tell survive until other Sacketts arrive to join the fray? Or will he handle them all on his own?Good entry in the Sackett series, in which we also meet other members of the author's fictional family.

[jean_sexton-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Tell Sackett has finally married Ange, his own true love. They are heading west to start their own life together. However, Tell is nearly murdered and returns to find his wife gone without a trace.I hated some of the story, because I wanted a happy ending for Tell and Ange and that wasn't to be (she is found murdered -- this happens early in the book, so I'm not giving away anything). I loved other parts of it. I think the message is that with family, you are never really alone.If you like Westerns and haven't read this one, what are you waiting for? Add it to your to-read list pronto.

[atoponce-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This could have been better. The first 1/3 of the story takes its time setting up the conflict, which in a 150-page book, is slow going. Then, toward the end of the book, a resolution comes to the story, but not until the _very_ last chapter. Which, meh. I guess works, but I would have liked to see some momentum build up to that point, but there was very little.

Some risks were also taken with characters, which improved the quality of the writing, but for the most part, the story just fell flat for me. The pace was mostly slow going, then just sort of ended quickly. Of course, it's typical L'Amour, in that it's very formulaic with the story telling. That's fine when the story telling is entertaining, but I left wanting more out of this story. I just wasn't entertained all that much.

Probably the hardest part of the story, was the world building. I think L'Amour was sloppy in describing where the main character was in the mountains, how the valleys and cliffs compared in relation to the forest, etc. I had a very hard time getting a clear picture in my head where the characters and conflict were in the mountains.

[merrymary_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Tell Sackett has married his beloved Ange and set off for the Mogollons to start a new life. Happiness is fleeting, however, as Tell finds when he is ambushed as he scouts ahead. When he finally finds his way back to camp, his wagon, his mules and his Ange are gone - as if they had never existed.Tell uncovers the truth, and exacts his own brand of justice. Forty men have him backed into a corner, moving in for the kill, but Sackett brothers and cousins start appearing from everywhere, and like the man says, forty isn't nearly enough.In my mind, the ultimate Sackett novel. Most of them don't have to be read in order, but this one is more fun if you have read the others first. When all the Sacketts start popping up, it's nice to know their back stories. Love this one.

[beukeboom · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One in a series about the long line of the Sackett family that Louis L'Amour created. This book deals with William Tell Sackett who survives an attempt on his in the first few pages only to be hunted by those who tried to kill him. Only those hunting him never figured on him being a Sackett, a family who never quit, and hard to kill. As with Louis L'Amour novels, the plot is fast paced with plenty of action. Good stuff!

[Jack Kilcrease · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the best book so far. Tell Sackett is a man we can identify with. Perhaps when L’Mour wrote this in the Sixties it would be hard to believe what happened to his wife but not today. I wish I had read this when I was younger and learned the lesson not to have any quit in you.

[TJ Sistrunk · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of my favorite Sackett novels. If you like westerns or just good stories, I recommend.

[kslade-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Typical good Sackett story...this time it's agonizing survival.

[bandings · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

One of my favorite of the many Louis L'Amour books that I own, "The Sackett Brand" is another classic from the prolific author. I call this story a favorite because of the many different Sacketts that are included. Other of the Sackett stories refer to the fact that when one Sackett needs help, they all come running -- and different Sackett family members are referred to in many other books, but this is the book that actually names the different characters and where they are from. Most of L'Amour's books are what I consider a quick read as escape literature. There is not a lot of depth to them. Though L'Amour did his research and includes factual settings as much as possible, still these are meant to be stories, not history books. This story is a classic L'Amour book.

[scoutmomskf · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a story about the power of family.  Tell Sackett and his wife Ange were headed into Arizona to settle a ranch of their own.  While scouting ahead he was shot.  By the time he was able to make his way back to where he had left her, she and all their possessions had disappeared.  He soon discovered that he had forty men looking for him to kill him.  His motivation now is to stay alive long enough to find the man who killed Ange.  As is usual in a L'Amour book, the power of his descriptions is phenomenal.  As I read I could feel the heat and the cold and sense the anger just rolling off Tell.  I loved the details of his tracking and movement.  His thoughts of Ange and how much they had loved each other were heartbreaking.  He thought he was all alone in his fight, but was determined to make it count.  He didn't know that word of his trouble had spread and that Sacketts from all over were coming to help.  In speaking to one of the hunters Nolan Sackett said this:  "Mister, you're huntin' a Sackett, an' the one you're huntin' would, man to man, make you eat that six-gun you're packin'. Howsoever, when you hunt one Sackett, you just naturally make the rest of us feel the urge.  Now, I don't know if I'll make it up there in time to he'p, so I figured to trim the edges off, like.  You look maverick to me, so I figured to put the Sackett brand on you." The last paragraph said it all:  "We stopped in Globe and the lot of us lined up in O'Leary's place, all of us together, more Sacketts than I'd ever seen before...or anybody else, I guess.  Me, standing there amongst them, I looked around and I knew I was not alone, and I'd never be alone again."