Robert B. Parker's Bull River (Virgil Cole & Everett Hitch Book 6)

It's important to remember that most publishers will not keep older novels available by a deceased author, unless new books are appearing on a regular basis with the same characters in them. In other words, unless new authors continue writing the "Spenser", the "Jesse Stone", and the "Virgil Cole/Everett Hitch" novels, the publishers won't keep Robert Parker's previous novels in print. So, the estate and the publisher have to assign someone to write new books in a continuing series in order to keep the series alive and well.Also, it's equally important to remember that Robert Knott, Michael Brandman and Ace Atkins are not Robert Parker. These are men who love the works of Robert Parker and could easily make more money by staying in their chosen field, instead of spending several months of their time writing a book. Each of them has their own unique style of writing. All three of them attempt to get as close to Robert Parker's style of writing as possible, but in the end, they can only be themselves. Robert Parker's style of writing certainly changed over the years. The writing style in the more recent novels that were written before he died is completely different than his style from the mid-eighties. Robert Parker grew as an author over his forty years of writing and his style certainly evolved. It's really not fair to compare the writing style of these new writers with an author who wrote for four decades. They're not going to be the same.My question is do you really want to see the characters kept alive and new books coming out every year, or do you want to see the three different series ended by the publisher? If you're worried about the cost of a book, one can always be purchased at a later date for a few dollars. I, for one, desire to see a new Spenser, Stone, and Cole/Hitch novel come out every year. I don't make a lot of money at my job, but I always seem to find enough to buy these when they appear, and the money always appears to be well spent.Robert B. Parker's Bull River by Robert Knott continues the western saga of U.S. Marshall Virgil Cole and Deputy Marshall Everett Hitch that was first started in Parker's Appaloosa and later turned into a theatrical film, starring Ed Harris as Cole and Viggo Mortensen as Hitch.This time around the story begins with Cole and Hitch capturing a desperado by the name of Alejandro Vasquez in a shootout. While Vasquez is running across the roof tops in an effort to escape, his gang of killers are shooting it out with the U.S. Marshall and his deputy. Vasquez, however, is quickly captured and taken back to San Cristobal to stand trial for killing a couple of men.While Cole and Hitch are there, the Comstock Bank is robbed by its president, Henry Strode. The two lawmen are then asked to help the local sheriff, whom they already know, find and arrest the culprit. Strode is found rather easily. His unconscious, beaten body is found on the road leading to a brothel several miles away. When the marshals arrive, they wait for a day, hoping Strode will regain consciousness and tell them what happened.Well, Strode does wake up, but he steals the handgun of one of the Sheriff's deputies and takes off after the men who beat him and stole the money.It turns out that Strode has been living under an assumed name, and that his brother, Dalton held his wife captive and forced the man to steal from the bank. Strode goes after his brother to save his wife and to retrieve the stolen money.With the unlikely help of Vasquez, who happens to know the two brothers from the past, Cole and Hitch head into Mexico to see that justice is enforced. They will certainly have their work cut out for them as they deal with the Mexico police, Dalton and his gang, Henry Strode, and the wile Alejandro Vasquez, who in many ways turns out to be more than a common outlaw.For me, Robert Knott clearly hits the nail on the head with his own take on the Virgil Cole & Everett Hitch series by the late Robert B. Parker. Though longer in length than Parker's books, the two main characters are represented perfectly as they originally were in Appaloosa years ago. Because the casting of the film, Appaloosa, was right on, I still see Ed Harris as Virgil Cole and Viggo Mortensen as Hitch. No other actors could portray the marshals as well as these two men.With this novel, I also saw Antonio Banderas as Vasquez with his easy way of talking and his charming personality. If a movie was ever made from this book, Antonio would be the perfect Vasquez.Needless to say, Virgil Cole is still having problems with Allie French, though she's only brought up briefly in the novel. Every time he leaves Appaloosa to go after an outlaw, he has to worry about her being faithful to him. Most of the time she isn't, but that's love. Hitch, however, has his eyes on the daughter of New Mexico's governor, Emmy. Virgil still has problems with words and depends on Everett to help him with them when the younger man isn't protecting his back during a gunfight. This reminds me of a few years back when Robert Parker mentioned on his web postings that Ed Harris had just emailed him, stating that he was still learning how to draw a revolver and shoot it.The author certainly knows his old West, and appears to get the details correct according to my own limited knowledge. I know the towns are described in the way they actually were with the dirt streets, the brothels, the shanty saloons competing with the more attractive businesses, the quickness to hang an outlaw, and the shootouts in main street. Everything feels true to form and that you're back in the west for the period of time it takes to read the novel.As a reader, I'm happy that Robert Knott is writing the Cole/Hitch series. I always know he's doing the absolute best to stay true to the characters and to create a believable storyline that hooks us, inviting the reader to take an adventure back in time with two marshals who believe in justice, but also fairness and honesty and truth. This inevitably makes the journey worthwhile and the adventure grand in nature.I hope to one day see another film about Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch, starring Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen. That would indeed be a pleasure.

Mysteries of the day when it was so easy to simply become someone else. You could live a full life and never have a previous identity catch up to you. That's what started thi tale of bank robbery, identity theft and revenge.

Robert Knott's version of Cole is just a little off... he seems to talk too much and too freely. Hitch feels right and the setting and supporting cast are fleshed out. Alejandro is a bit cartoonish, and the final showdown is very theatrical, not at all like the gritty gunfights that finish off the other books in the series.My main gripe is the pacing.The early books built up to a showdown and there were few words exchanged, but lots left unspoken. In this book there's a pretty lengthy distance to travel between the lawmen and their goal, and everything is slowed down as a result, with little to no action in between.Cole's endless cuckolding by Allie is alluded to, but that whole subplot is basically absent. I was hoping to see that resolved eventually and not just be an eternal theme in every book.I'd say read this if you want a book that will last you a while, rather than something you will burn through in a couple of days. The lack of tension and slow pace allow you to put it down a little more easily than the earlier books.

ONE OF THE BEST THINGS ABOUT ROBERT PARKER WAS HIS WRITING CADENCE AND SHORT DIALOG BETWEEN THE CHARACTERS, NOT MUCH SAID BUT A LOT INFERED, THATS WHAT DEFINES JESSE STONE, SPENCER, AND COLE & HITCH AS THE PERSONALITIES THEY ARE, SINCE PARKERS DEATH THEIR HAVE BEEN NEW JESSE STONE NOVELS AS WELL AS THE COLE & HITCH WESTERNS, THE 1ST OF THESE WERE WRITTEN IN THE SAME SHORT DIALOG AND MORE OR LESS THE SAME CADENCE, HOWEVER I HAVE NOTICED THAT THE AUTHOR HAS BEEN MOVING SLOWLY AWAY FROM THAT (IN THIS BOOK) AND THAT COULD BE GOOD AND BAD, IT IS GOOD IF YOU WANT TO READ THIER BOOKS WITH THIER STYLE, IT IS BAD IF YOU WANT TO READ WHAT IS MARKETED AS A ROBERT PARKER BOOK, I STIL GAVE IT 4 STARS BECAUSE EVEN THOUGH DIFFERENT IN STYLE ITS STILL A GOOD STORY AND I AM A SUCKER FOR A GOOD WESTERN NO MATTER WHO WRITES IT, JUST BE PREPARED FOR A SLIGHT DEVERSION OF WRITING STYLE IN THIS BOOK

If you like Everett and Hitch, this is a typical chapter in their heroic lives. The pace is moderately slow. This story has some interesting twists which take the reader down to Mexico. The writing is vanilla enough that you can share with your pre-teens, as long as they have been introduced to the birds and the bees. People die, sometimes violently, but it happens without going into unnecessary gory detail. If you like "who dun nits," and this style of writing, you may also enjoy Parker's "Spencer" detective books which take place mostly in Boston during contemporary times.

My review. I really enjoyed this book. None of the choices listed to describe this, or any of your books listed for review are apropos and much to simplified. Was the book predictable? In that just about anything Robert Parker write is predictable in that you expect, no matter the subject, to be a predictably good read. That in this case, being a western plot and not a Spence or his more usual theme of novels it was surprising in it's subject matter and Hemmingway, Steinbeck, simplistic story telling style. Sorry No twists, not even some, just a straight forward fun,from the first page to the last, western, read.

Good story but I found this Cole & Hitch story slow upto others in the series.

Book was ex library but it was good as new also large print which I prefer

very happy item

I hope Robert Knott continues the Cole & Hitch saga for a long, long time - he's a terrific writer who has an ear for "back then" dialogue as well as plotting that'll have you gulping down his books at possibly too rapid a rate. I'm always sorry when the end is looming, especially when I had no idea I'd been up all night getting there.

Der titelgebende Fluss Bull River liegt in der Nähe von Veracruz an der mexikanischen Golfküste. Das ist mal ein ziemlich ausgefallener Schauplatz für einen US-Western. Aber der reißende Fluss ist die perfekte Metapher, um das Leben der drei Desperados zu beschreiben, mit denen es die beiden Marshals Cole und Hitch zu tun haben.Ursprünglich wollte ich dem Roman nach zwei Dritteln nur drei Sterne geben, denn die Handlung lief mehr oder weniger vorhersehbar mechanisch ab, quasi wie ein aufgezogenes, gut geöltes Uhrwerk. Doch das letzte Drittel reißt das Ruder herum, wird äußerst spannend und obendrein menschlich interessant.