Last of the Breed

A book review of "Last of the Breed" by Louis L'Amour who is one of my favorite authors. I currently have a copy of his "The Frontier Stories, Volume Three" (a collection of short stories) by my bedside. He was a prolific writer. A very good writer.

This novel is his first non-Western book I've read.

The main character is Major Joe Makatazoni who is part Sioux, Cheyenne, and Scot. And the story takes place in Siberia!

How did he end up in Siberia? Joe is an US Air Force test pilot who was snared by the Russians for the purpose of learning more about the planes he flew. He was very briefly imprisoned in the middle of Siberia for his interrogation before he quickly made his daring escape.

Most of the novel covers how he survived off the Siberian wilderness in the middle of winter. Nobody gave him a chance of survival, including the Russians. The time he spent as a child living in the wilderness of Idaho taught him the skills he needed to survive.

His chief protagonists are Colonel Arkady Arkadovich Zamatev (who was the mastermind behind Joe's capture) and Alekhin, a native Yakut who followed Joe's trail which nobody else could see.

It's a great novel typical of Louis L'Amour's writing. I could not put it down, stopping to read only when my wife woke up and asked me to go to sleep.

It has inspired me to search for and read Louis L'Amour's non-Western novels.

#BookReview #LastoftheBreed #LouisLAmour