This is one book I could put down. Seems like every paragraph was in some way related to sex. Who was wanting who or who had who. Didn't appear a plot to the entire book. Save your money and don't but this stinker.

By his own reckoning, Larry McMurtry is past his literary prime. Nearly 12 years after a heart bypass surgery plunged him into an abyss of depression, and 17 years beyond his Pulitzer Prize-winning magnum opus, 'Lonesome Dove,' McMurtry has not evaded that single harshest criticism of his fiction: His own. He knows he's not in top form and he admits it.

In his autobiographical 'Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen,' he revealed two things, one intentional, one not: He considers himself only a shadow of what he once was, the greatest western novelist of his generation. The second, unintentional revelation? His non-fiction of the past decade has far surpassed his fiction.

Comes now 'The Wandering Hill,' sequel to 'Sin Killer' and second in a four-part series about a the eccentric and dysfunctional Berrybender family and its motley coterie -- British nobles in search of adventure, big-game hunting and sex -- as they explore the virgin West of the 1830s.

For historical-fiction readers, and especially for fans of the Lewis and Clark era, McMurtry populates this book with supporting characters straight out of Western legend: real-life mountain men Kit Carson, Jim Bridger, Tom Fitzpatrick and Hugh Glass, Scottish adventurer William Drummond Stewart, frontier artists George Catlin and Karl Bodmer, trader William Ashley, and Pomp Charbonneau, the son of Sacagawea.

Partly because 'The Wandering Hill' ends, in effect, only halfway through the saga, its denouement is underwhelming. The Berrybender adventures are plucked from various unrelated historical accounts. Considered separately, they illustrate the moments of terror the frontier likely held, but the trip often seems as aimless as the Berrybenders' journey through unexplored territory.

It's difficult to know whether the Berrybenders are ultimately headed to a geographical Eden or some abstract encounter with destiny, or both. One might look at this saga as a kind of western serial, but 'The Wandering Hill' doesn't close at the edge of a cliff, rather on less dramatic footing.

If McMurtry's 'tetralogy' follows its pre-ordained literary path -- a tetralogy is four related literary works, traditionally three tragedies followed by a comedy -- the destination might be more interesting than the journey. 'Sin Killer' and 'The Wandering Hill,' with their promise of more to come, feel a lot like historical fluff floating on a wayward breeze.

Like Larry McMurtry himself, the Berrybender narratives pale by comparison to earlier greatness. Tasmin Berrybender is no Gus McCrae and Jim Snow is no Sam the Lion.

I eagerly snap up every McMurtry Western that comes out, only to be disappointed that it's not Lonesome Dove... for my money, one of the top three books of my life. I read all of the LD sequels; each diminished from the original.

It was exciting, then, to read The Sin Killer, because it seemed as though McMurtry had cleared the decks, was freshly inspired and was attacking the subject of the West from a whole new vantage point. Now, with The Wandering Hill, I think he's written his best books in many years. I think he has done better than this with his dialogue and his characterizations (always his strongest suit) and the indistinguishable sprawling cast seems mainly to provide the writer with cannon fodder-people to kill to spare the main characters. (Some of the cast members remind me of red-shirted Star Trek security guys who won't survive the adventure.) Having said that, a satisfying package is here. I don't like waiting another two years for two more books, but I'll snap them up as soon as they're released. Good job to Larry McMurtry.

I am not an environmentalist, but after reading this book, I've reconsidered. What a waste of trees!

Joe

I lose interest in most mysteries because I find them unconvincing, or so outlandish I can't connect the details. Not this one. It opens with two disparate scenes: one of a derelict swaying on a rocky ledge above the Grand Mesa until an unlikely savior, a green-eyed woman, tells him if he's going to kill himself, he should do it right, and the other of a man and woman with a friendship based on boozing who unwittingly take possession of two human eyeballs swimming in a china cup. Schlauger weaves them together in a way that quickly becomes intoxicating. As a poet, I found his writing passionate and intimate, whether about his characters' personal battles or the breathtaking Colorado landscape. What I liked were the profound, life-changing realizations each of the characters makes, and the simple truth that we all have personal demons... even the worst of us are human and deserving of compassion.

If you've been nostalgic for the years when Bonanza, Gunsmoke, and Maverick were hits on television, take heart. Larry McMurtry is still cranking out the gothic westerns.
SIN KILLER is the first offering of a four-volume work set along the Missouri River in the 1830's. An English family that includes Lord and Lady Berrybender and their fourteen children along with their entourage is bent on exploring the untamed American West. The cast of characters numbers fifty-eight (Don't worry, there's a glossary), headed by Tasmin Berrybender, a willful young lady who falls in love with Jim Snow (think Jim Bridger) and is nonplused when he doesn't hang on her every word and deed. The other plot line involves how often Lord Albany Berrybender gets himself in some kind of pickle, shooting off his toes at one point, getting caught in a blizzard in another.
Twelve-year-old Mary Berrybender was perhaps the most engaging character. She is erudite beyond her years and has mysterious powers, the ability to sniff out edible roots, Jerusalem artichokes, tubers, onions.
Ever since LONESOME DOVE and Blue Duck, I've been impressed with McMurtry's facility with Indian names. In this one, we've got Big White, The Hairy Horn, Neighing Horses, Blue Thunder, and Cat Head. Three of these are old men being escorted back home from a parley in Washington D.C. by Toussaint Charbonneau (the guide on the Louis and Clark expedition). He keeps losing them when the steamboat snags on a sandbar.
There's lots of ravaging and fornication going on, rather much if you're the prudish sort. McMurtry is having a wonderful time making fun of nineteenth century aristocracy. SIN KILLER would qualify as a comic novel if so many characters weren't falling down stairs breaking their necks or being hacked to death by axes. The novel also comes to a screeching halt, abrupt, even for a four-part novel.

Do not start reading this book thinking that it will be another Lonesome Dove. It is not, but it is a great book in its own right.

I started out reading Sin Killer thinking it was another McMurtry western but decided it was a black comedy western with a lot of slap stick through in for good measure. Once you discover this, settle back for a read of your life.

Sin Killer is the first part of a planned four-part epic about the Berrybender family, a rich spoiled family who comes from England in the 1840s to spend some time on western frontier shooting every live animal they can find. But, in their avarice, they do not realize just how dangerous the old West can be to them instead.

The flamboyant and eccentric cast of characters make their way on their luxurious steamboat up the Missouri River. Little do they know what awaits them. Foremost, there is a eldest daughter Tasmin who often disembarks from the boat for treks of her own. There, she meets Sin Killer, a wild--yet fanatically religious--man of the frontier. In a short space of time, they meet, she falls for him, they get married and she gets pregnant, all before returning to the steamer. While she is gone, her mother falls down the stairs and dies, her father shoots himself in the foot and several of the entourage disappear in the wilds of the frontier to be kidnaped by Indians. My favorite character was Prince Tallyrand, but you will have to read the book to see who that is.

I really didn't know what to make of this book, yet I was fascinated by it and could not put it down. I am now waiting eagerly for the next installment to see what happens to this odd family and Sin Killer in the early American West.

Larry McMurtry is one of the best known western writers today. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his "Lonesome Dove" trilogy and is also known for "Terms of Endearment" and "The Last Picture Show". Now, he's taken on a big task - a four-novel series he calls "The Berrybender Narratives". This book, "Sin Killer" is Book 1 and was just published in May of 2002.

A mere 300 pages long, it's a wild comedic ride with the Berrybender family in 1832. They've come over from England and are on a boat making its way up the Missouri River. There's Lord Berrybender, his wife, his mistress, six of his 14 legitimate children, servants, guides, tutors, artists and a couple of Indian chiefs traveling home after being feted in Washington. The family is rich and spoiled and totally clueless. They meet a variety of tragedies but the writer presents it all as a farce, and I couldn't help laughing out loud at times.

Central to the plot is the oldest daughter, Tasmin. She falls in love with an American God-fearing frontiersman named Jim Snow, nicknamed "Sin Killer" by the Indians. Their romance is hilarious as are the other events in the book, as the many characters meet with accidents, violent death and love affairs. Several of the women are held captive by the Indians, some of the men are caught in a snowstorm while out shooting buffalo, and the wild and wooly frontier itself plays a role in the story. There are lots and lots of characters who romp across the pages, each with a distinctive personality, profession and passion. I loved them all.

This is a fun book, not to be taken seriously. It's just pure entertainment all the way and the action never stops. I loved it. And, since all the threads of the complex plot were certainly not tied together on the last page, I am eagerly awaiting Book 2. I sure hope it's released soon because I can't wait to continue this very enjoyable saga. Recommended.