Hombre Audiobook By Elmore Leonard cover art

Hombre

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Hombre

By: Elmore Leonard
Narrated by: Richard Poe
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Grand master Elmore Leonard is justifiably acknowledged as "the best writer of crime fiction alive" (Newsweek) - and, in fact, one of the very best ever, alongside other all-time greats like John D. MacDonald, Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, and Robert Parker. But he has also many acclaimed masterworks of American Western fiction to his credit - including Hombre, the basis for the classic Hollywood motion picture starring Paul Newman.

Set in Arizona mining country, Hombre is the tale of a white man raised by Indians, who must come to the aid of people who hate him when their stagecoach is attacked by outlaws. As thrilling as his contemporary novels of crime, double-cross, and murder in Detroit and Miami, Hombre is Elmore Leonard at his riveting best - no less than one would expect from the creator of US Marshal Raylan Givens (Justified).

©1961 Elmore Leonard (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers Crime Crime Fiction Fiction Genre Fiction Westerns Exciting Suspense

Critic reviews

"Narrator Richard Poe's steady, resonant tone; subtle accents; and superb timing bring out the sagebrush and tumbleweeds in this Western classic...the combination of Leonard's naturalistic writing style and Poe's baritone voice makes this a gripping listen." ( AudioFile)
Complex Character Study • Moral Questions • Complex Hero • Tense Situations • Subtle Storytelling • Dramatic Performance
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The performance of the story by Richard Poe is simply outstanding in every way, it’s dramatic without being overblown and he clearly delineates the voices of the many characters. The book is short, more of a novella, so when it was made into a great film by Martin Ritt not much had to be left out of the movie version. However there were many subtle changes from the book, some characters were consolidated and new ones created for the film which was all very fascinating to discover from hearing this original version. I enjoyed it immensely.

Classic Elmore Leonard Western

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Great book. Great narration. The kid and Russell were voiced to perfection. Hombre is one of greatest characters in Western pulp fiction!!

Even better than the excellent movie.

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A not quite fully satisfying story -- unusual for Leonard -- but a well told tale. And a superlative performance by narrator Richard Poe.

A classic Elmore Leonard western story

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Was looking for a book along the lines of something similar to the Hateful Eight, but this somewhat fell short of my expectations. Still a very good book. You’ll enjoy it if you like westerners.

Good but not great.

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Superb scene report throughout with convincing dialogue. Be sure to enjoy the film rendition, Paul Neuman at his best.

“We all die, it’s just a question of when.”—Johnrussell

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What made the experience of listening to Hombre the most enjoyable?

Suspenseful, surprising.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Actually listened to it all in 2 sittings

Any additional comments?

Early work by Leonard very different from his later books but still really good.

Early Elmore Leonard starts slow, gets really good

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Excellent. Absolutely worth the listen. if you liked the movie this is for you. Gritty.

excellent tale of morality, the banality of evil

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Road-trip ended but we kept listening… sitting in the car at the rented cabin in the mountains! Yeah it’s that good. Narration is A+.

Great story, great narration.

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"You can look at something for a long time and not see it until it has moved or run off."
- Elmore Leonard, Hombre

Book two in Library of America's: Westerns: Last Stand at Saber River / Hombre / Valdez Is Coming / Forty Lashes Less One / Stories. Hombre, published in 1961, has the feel almost of a locked-room mystery. Except instead of a room, it is a mud coach (think a lighter version of a stage coach). The hero is John Russell, an Apache-raised white man. The story is narrated by a young, innocent man whose vision of Russell changes (along with the rest of the coach passengers) after the coach is held-up and the passengers are left for dead.

One of Leonard's big themes in this book is predudice and our expectations of others based on class and background. Like many of Leonard's novels, this one was made into a movie (starring Paul Newman) in 1967.

You can look at something for a long time...

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One penny all time favorite Leonard western tales. John Russell is such a unique character.

Classic Leonard!

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