Titus Welliver (of television’s Deadwood [2] fame) does an excellent job of reading Appaloosa [3] by Robert B. Parker [4]. Mr. Welliver is able to capture a lot of nuances with his voice, even the female ones, without sounding strained. I’m glad they hired him to read the second and third installments in the series, Resolution [5] and Brimstone [6], respectively.
But I’m not sure I agree with everything about Parker’s take on the Wild West, even though his book is a real page turner. I’m no expert, but some of the language he uses sounds just a bit too contemporary to my ears. That may be a minor consideration, however, compared with the need to find out what happens next. Parker, being a veteran mystery writer, knows precisely how to inject his story with plenty of tension and momentum.
I’m still on the waiting list for the movie version, but after seeing what Hollywood did with Elmore Leonard’s 3:10 to Yuma [7](particularly the 2008 remake of the 1957 version), I don’t have real high expectations. More on that, though, in my next post.
