SACKETT'S LAND

"We among the Fens were an independent lot," states Barnabas Sackett, the first of ten generations of frontiersmen chronicled by Louis L'Amour in his Sackett series. John Curless narrates this opening novel of the eighteen-book series with a strong, assured, and very English accent--and English is the point. As the book begins in Elizabethan times, the men "heading west" are not driving cattle across Kansas; they're racing Sir Walter Raleigh across the ocean to the New World. L'Amour's renowned sense of historical detail and accuracy inform both the story and dialogue, which Curless reads with a Shakespearean flair. A wonderful tale of pirates, savage country, and good-hearted rogues proves the Old West isn't just a place. It's a state of mind. B.P. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 05/ JAN 06]