Resolution (Virgil Cole & Everett Hitch Book 2)

Parker settles comfortably into the series with this second entry. The plot, for much of the way, is a slow burn, yet the sparse prose and snappy dialogue makes for a super quick read. And Virgil and Everett are a fun buddy duo to hang out with.

After the final scenes of Robert B. Parker's novel APPALOOSA, fans knew the story of Everett Hitch and Virgil Cole couldn't end there. Especially not with a movie starring Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen waiting in the wings.RESOLUTION takes up only a short time after the previous novel. Everett Hitch is still riding solo at this point and takes a job at the Blackfoot saloon as a security guy. I enjoy the relationship between Everett and Virgil, because that relationship is the bones of what Parker has stated will be a three-book series. I knew I wouldn't have to wait long for the action to begin, or for Everett and Virgil to get back together.Parker delineates his two principle characters very well. Virgil Cole is an unfinished man in a way. He knows what he has been but he doesn't yet know what he will become. Everett Hitch, on the other hand, has no qualms about addressing what he is. His moral convictions are centered and steady, and he never questions his actions or his motivations for doing them.The town of Resolution remains somewhat undefined and isn't seated in the historical Old West. Parker seems content to just lay the town in where he wants to and sketch in the background and surroundings the way he did in APPALOOSA. Given the story that he wants to tell is skeletal and action-packed, readers don't need much of a history or true-to-life geographical setting the way Louis L'Amour and Elmer Kelton do them.In no time at all, Everett finds himself neck-deep in trouble. As security man for the Blackfoot Saloon, he works for Amos Wolfson. Wolfson is intent on buying up as much of the town and surrounding land as he can, and he's made enemies of the local ranchers and Eamon O'Malley, Resolution's other financial baron who is also making moves at a major land grab.Although Parker concentrates on the relationship between Everett and Virgil, he paints an interesting picture of an Old West town being born. The shifting fortunes of the populace bounce back and forth between Wolfson and O'Malley as each of them squares off to become top dog of Resolution.Everett quickly ends up becoming recognized as a protector of women, starting with the prostitutes that work the two saloons, and spilling over into the domestic arena. He's a definite man of action, but also of compassion, and that rankles the ire of Wolfson who doesn't want the added aggravation. Still, Everett sticks to his guns.The characters are simple for the most part, but that's why I enjoy reading these books. Parker portrays Everett and Virgil as the same kind of men I grew up with in the small Oklahoma towns where I lived. I understand the values at once, even though a lot of people might think those men were more complicated. Virgil seems driven to understand more about what he's doing and why, but Everett just accepts himself without question.I think the duality between the two men, the places where they fit together so well, and Virgil's imperfections that keep them apart, paints a pretty accurate picture of the differences between men of the Old West and of the New West.The story is light and straight-forward. There aren't any surprises in this one, but I had a good time and read it in a couple sittings. Parker fans will love the book and Western readers will enjoy it if they've never read anything by the author before.I'm looking forward to the movie and to the third book in the trilogy. Seeing how Virgil eventually reconciles himself to his lethal attraction for Allie, the singer that has all the morals of an alley cat, should be interesting.

After having read Appaloosa and then seeing the movie version of it with Ed Harris as Virgil Cole and Viggo Mortensen as Everett Hitch, I found myself visualizing those two great actors when reading Robert B. Parker's newest western novel, Resolution. Harris and Mortensen captured the two lead characters perfectly, bringing them to life in ways that are still clearly etched in my mind; and, like with Tom Selleck in the TV movies based on the "Jesse Stone" series, Resolution simply reads better when I have familiar faces to put on the main characters.Resolution begins basically where Appaloosa left off. Everett Hitch has left town after killing Randall Bragg in a gunfight, saving Virgil Cole from having to do it and thereby breaking his own rules for justice. Hitch rides into the small town of Resolution and quickly discovers an opening in Amos Wolfson's saloon for keeping the peace in a rather lawless town. Using his infamous eight-gauge shotgun, Hitch shoots the local gunslinger and bully, who just so happens to work for Eamon O'Malley, the owner of Resolution's one and only gold mine. To make matters worse, it seems that Wolfson and O'Malley are each vying for control of the town. O'Malley then hires two gunslingers (Cate and Rose) to take on Hitch, but they all know of each other's reputations as a gunfighter and wisely decide to allow things to take their own course. That's when Virgil Cole rides into town. He's come to visit Hitch and to tell him about Ms. Ellie taking off with another man and heading to Texas. He wants Hitch to go with him as he tracks her down. Hitch, however, isn't ready to leave Resolution. There's a showdown approaching as O'Malley brings in a small army of killers to take on Cole & Hitch. That's when Cato & Rose decide to change sides in order to make the odds a little better for the two ex-lawmen, and that's just the tip of the iceberg of what happens in this utterly entertaining western.Like with the "Spenser" and "Jesse Stone" series, Robert B. Parker knows how to create believable characters that seem to come to life on the written page. All of the characters in the book, both good and bad, have their own unique personalities and the dialoque between them crackles with wit, intelligence, and emotion. After over thirty years as an author, Parker knows how to write great dialogue. There's also enough historical information included to satisfy those looking for factual westerns. What really makes the novel work, however, is the strong personal relationship between Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch. They know each other as human beings and love each other as brothers, and they certainly have the best dialogue of anyone in the book. Cole is also forced to take hard, cold look at his own belief system regarding his views on justice and killing, and what actually makes him a man. Parker includes several shootouts in the novel, making them as realistic as possible, an uprising that's short lived by the Indians living on the nearby reservation, the unification of the local ranchers to fight Wolfson and his own greed for controlling everything in sight, and the unusual duo of Cato and Rose, who are similar to Cole and Hitch in that they have their own set of rules to live by and try to do what's right when killing people.All in all, Resolution is the perfect sequel to Appaloosa, bringing back to the two lawmen who could've given Wyatt Earp a run for his money. Never fear, because Cole and Hitch will definitely return in a third novel as they travel to Texas in search of Ms. Ellie.

my husband loves these books

the book was great. I didnt read Appaloosa but I watched the movie. Ed Harris and Viggo are perfect in these roles, Even Renee Zelwegger does great. This book is a direct sequel, and doesnt disappoint. Ive also read book 3 and 4 and enjoyed both of them as well

This is the first book where I can honestly say that I started reading it and did not stop until I had finished - cover to cover in one go. This goes to its intense readability; it's brevity and the fact I'd fallen out with my family - festive season is too long for any group trapped in a house.Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch - heroes of Appaloosa - have a new town to tame and while there is nothing actually dreadfully original here, the late Robert Parker's prose is a masterclass in economy and the characters are both fun and sympathetic. I particularly liked the early pages - pre the arrival of Virgil - with Everett giving a masterclass on how to identify the town's troublemaker, end him, them build something approaching civilisation in the saloon. It made me pine for Deadwood.

This is the second in the Cole & Hitch series by Parker. Hitch has moved on from Appaloosa to the frontier town of Resolution, where he is joined by Cole. There is no law yet, other than the peace enforced by Hitch in the saloon that employs him. Once again, a greedy powerful man (a mine owner, this time) threatens the livelhoods of others (small ranchers) and our heroes get drawn into the conflict as hired gunhands arrive to intimidate the ranchers. A great read, Cole & Hitch are terrific characters, and the dialogue (especially between these two) crackles off the page. A real treat; and I hope someone makes a film of it as good as Appaloosa.

The writing is of the same high quality as APPALOOSA, and it starts off just as well. About a third of the way through, however, it seems to run out of story, and indulges in a series of fairly pointless narrative shifts, seemingly designed to fill up the pages, that quickly became annoying. Still, the writing IS very nice and I don't regret buying it.

Like many others I purchased this expecting a £2 discount, but the discount only applied to selected books of which this was not. The book was enjoyable though quite short. A big fan of all Robert B Parker books, Jesse Stone & Spencer. Will have to think re buying next one at full price.

Don't usually read westerns but this series are brilliant