A Tale Out of Luck

Reviewed by Cricket Hater

"A Tale Out of Luck"

By Willie Nelson with Mike Blakely

Hardcover: 256 pages

Publisher: Center Street

Buy at Amazon: $14.95

I reviewed this book in tribute to my Dad who recentlypassed away and who was a big Willie Nelson fan. (And there are many!) Affectionately called "Uncle Willie" in our household since we share the same last name (My maiden name, but no real relation) my Dad loved to listen to his music.

A natural storyteller through his lyrics, Nelson took a not so surprising turn into literatre and stayed true to his Country Western roots in this tale of cowboys and indians, muder and suspense.

From Publishers Weekly
Country music legend Nelson and novelist Blakely (Come Sundown) collaborate for this predictable western. When a rustler's body turns up on the open range outside Luck, Tex., with ghost arrows embedded in his chest, local rancher and retired Texas Ranger Hank Tomlinson's past returns to haunt him. Years earlier, three Rangers were killed by similar arrows, and many suspected Tomlinson at the time. News of the rustler's murder brings the son of one of the late Rangers, now a state police investigator, to Luck with an eye to avenging his father's death. Staying one step ahead of the law, Tomlinson races to solve the mystery and cheat the hangman. There's a wagonload of subplots (an Indian war, a prized mare's disappearance, an orphan searching out his parents, a barmaid's love story), and while rookie novelist Nelson and veteran Blakely write convincingly of the Old West, the plotting is cumbersome, the characters familiar and the dialogue strained. Nelson's legions of fans probably won't mind, though.

 I'm not really a western fan and parts of this were not so great. It was a little slow for me but the combination of Commanche Indians and Kentucky Horses is a great tribute to this adored folk spinner who has kept his fans satisfied with similar stories for decades.

If you like Uncle Willie...you'll like "A Tale Out Of Luck".