Just finished re-reading the Comstock Lode. Does this story strike anybody else as a pretty dark tale. There is the rape and murder of the two mothers, the girl's father is murdered at the same time and Trevallion's father is murdered later. Trevallion spends years hunting for the murderers in order exact justice killing two. Two of the murderers that play major roles in the story are pretty brutal. Waggoner is similar to the kidnapper outlaw in Son of a Wanted Man in his dialogue with Margrita. Not real graphic but it gets the message across. He is a real brute with absolutely no conscience. But, I think the darkest character of all is Hesketh. Maybe that's because LL writing in the third person is able to show Hesketh's thoughts and how devoid of humanity Hesketh is. LL had Jacob Teale make a good comparison of Hesketh to a snake. Really good book but also dark.
A few years ago several of us were writing a story and someone told me I got a bit brutal with my character. I have seen LL get brutal with several of his characters. He was actually very good at it My favorite brutal character of his was Pony Zale. He was one scary old man.
Tennessee Dave
"Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God" Author unknown
