The Searchers

By Alan Le May

The “epic” novel of violence and vengeance in the American West—and the basis for John Ford’s classic film starring John Wayne (Kirkus Reviews).
 
Film director John Ford’s The Searchers defined the spirit of America, influenced a generation of filmmakers, and was named the Greatest Western Movie of All Time by the American Film Institute. Now, experience the original story—a timeless work of vivid, raw western fiction and a no-holds-barred portrait of the American frontier.
 
From the moment they left their homestead unguarded on that scorching Texas day, Martin Pauley and Amos Edwards became searchers. First, they had to return to the decimated ranch, bury the bodies of their family, and confront the evil cunning of the Comanche who had slaughtered them. Then the pair set out in pursuit of missing Debbie Edwards.
 
In the years that followed, Pauley and Edwards would endure storms of nature and of men, both of them seeking more than a missing girl—and more than revenge. Driven by secrets, guilt, love, and rage, and defying the dangers all around them, the two men would become a frontier legend, searching for the one moment . . . the one last battle . . . that will finally set them free.
 
In this “drama of stubborn courage . . . to which the prose lends a matching stature,” Alan LeMay crafted one of the most enduring western tales ever—and inspired a work of cinematic genius that still stands to this day (Kirkus Reviews).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Mar 5, 2013
• ISBN: 9780786031436

Alan Le May

Alan Le May was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, and attended Stetson University in DeLand, Florida in 1916. In 1918 he registered for the World War I draft in Aurora, and then enlisted and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. While attending the University of Chicago, where he graduated in 1922 with a Bachelor of Philosophy degree, he joined the Illinois National Guard. He was promoted to First Lieutenant Field Artillery for the Illinois National Guard in 1923. He published his first novel, Painted Ponies, in 1927 (about the Cheyenne and the U. S. Cavalry horse soldiers).

Reviews for The Searchers

[silverlily26 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have loved the film for years now and wasn't disappointed by the book. Like a good story's it was richer in detail and more in depth character development than film. Recommend if you love Westerns.

[zumbanista · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Searchers is an iconic novel of the American West written by Alan Le May in 1954. Many people are more familiar with the John Ford movie of the same name which followed 2 years later and is an acknowledged cinematic masterpiece. However, the book is well worth reading and stands on its own merits. As a new reader of Western fiction, the Searchers epitomized to me post Civil War Texas. It encompasses many familiar characters and themes: the hard scrabble frontier existence, the solitary and stubborn cowboy, family and community values, fearful Comanche raids, and survival on the vast empty land relying on your horse and your wits. Well researched and well written, I enjoyed the language and style of writing very much. There was fine attention to detail on the daily life in the saddle of our two principals, Amos and Mart, on the lifestyle of the Comanches and the dealings with various nefarious individuals that Amos and Mart run into during their six-year search for abducted niece, Debbie. For the most part, the characters are fully three-dimensional. You can feel their disappointment, fear, focus and exhaustion as they track Debbie and her Comanche captors. Relationships are complex and sometimes conflicted and Martin matures and comes into his own as a man during his wanderings. Well done and enjoyable reading for anyone interested in the Old West.

[crazymamie · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

After reading Glenn Frankel's book that explores the making of John Ford's classic movie The Searchers, and learning about the original novel that the movie was based on and about its author Alan LeMay, I was curious to read it myself. I had seen the movie many times, but I had never read the novel. It's good. It really holds up. Unlike the movie, the novel is told from Martin Pauley's point of view, and it is through his eyes that we view Amos Edwards (John Wayne's character Ethan in the movie). Martin is more complex in the novel, and he grows before our eyes as we turn the pages, developing a rich character that can stand up to Amos and his hatred. I was trying hard to decide if I liked the movie or the novel better, and while I think the movie has a slight edge, I liked the ending of the book much better. The writing rang true, and the dialogue spoke, which is why the most moving parts of the dialogue in the movie come directly from the novel, intact and unrefined. And the heartbreak - you can feel that, the toll it takes on both of them to search every day for years, following one dead end after another, always seeking and never finding more than just one more lead, and yet not being able to let it go, either. "It was the heartbreaking distances that held them back from coming up with him for so long. You were never in the wrong place without being about a week and a half away from the right one. That country seemed to have some kind of weird spell upon it, so that you could travel in one spot all day long, and never gain a mile.""'This is a rough country,' Amos was saying. 'It's a country knows how to scour a human man right off the face of itself.'"

[dinadansfriend · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is not a formula Western, though it has since spawned some imitations, I have listed it as Historical fiction and not just an oater, because it isn't. The characters are well developed, and the sense of place developed very well. I've read it three times, first as a Reader's Digest Condensed Book, and I was happy to find the full text later. It is one of the few films in which I can watch John Wayne perform. (I'm a Randolph Scot/Clint Eastwood kind of guy) It repays the reading.

[kcslade · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

OK story of dogged search for captive niece.

[lindawwilson · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A good solid Western.

[lamour_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the classic novel on which the classic John Wayne novel is based. Amos Edwards and Martin Pauley as the two searchers were known in the novel bury the Edwards family after a Comanche raid but Debbie and her sister are missing. They follow the raiders' trail finding Laurie dead but Debbie is still missing. For more than six years the two men follow leads and rumours but always come up short. Eventually they do find where she is and Amos intends to kill her while Martin wants bring her home. Differing from the film, Amos is killed and Martin rescues Debbie although she is afraid to return to the white man's world.While it is a novel, Le May passes on much about being a pioneer family in Texas after the War. He also gives many details about the many Native tribes in the southwest.This edition of the novel comes with a special introduction by Harry Carey, Jr, who was a member of John Ford's stock company and had a role in the film version. He passes on many anecdotes about working with Wayne and Ford.

[MarkCunliffe · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An absolutely superb book, one of the best westerns ever written. Most will recall the John Wayne film, which is now rightly seen as a classic. This is the novel the film was based on, and great as that film is, I think that this book is even better. It's up there with classic novels like Shane, The Shootist, The Cowboys, and True Grit. What more can be said? Read it!

Btw, if you enjoy this book, or Westerns, check out the award winning book, The Searchers, The making of an American Legend.

[sartor resartus · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Damn good read!!! I will read more Alan Lemay. A good story teller. Next, The Searchers(1956 John Ford film) with John Wayne.