Louis L'Amour's [The Cherokee Trail] is both a little more and a little less than what I expected of the famed King of the Oat Epic.

It was more than I expected simply in the fact that I enjoyed it….

The story is mildly complicated in that many of the characters are thrust at the reader early in the story, and you have to keep them straight. Mr. L'Amour's simple, point-to-point prose is deceptively charming, and the unwary will find themselves swept up quite quickly in his tale-spinning.

In short, The Cherokee Trail is light, fast, and fun reading. It is ideal for the person who doesn't have much time to read, because you can put it down for a while, and still get right back into it. Mr. L'Amour recaps his action frequently….

Oh—Cherokee Trail was something less than I expected, because I thought there'd be...