Only McMurtry can guide the reader through so much grit, blood and downright nastiness without pausing. Streets of Laredo is much more visceral than its worthy predecessor, but it never feels forced or gratuitous -- that's the life of Woodrow F. Call and it all makes perfect sense.
Many Lonesome Dove fans no doubt were irritated with some of the character development ("Lorena married WHO?!") in Laredo, but it certainly fits the templates that McMurtry fashioned in Lonesome Dove.
The author retains his gift for dialogue that rings true and memorable, yet believable salt-of-the-earth characters, such as our accountant from the East. And this time, McMurtry has taken the time to actually create a human being for his villain, as opposed to the cartoon figure of Blue Duck. Young Joey Garza is more real, and much more frightening.
I've had fans of Lonesome Dove criticize Laredo as being too depressing. But "Happy" has never been the point of McMurtry's work -- he tells it like it is. And he tells it very, very well.
Call has the aspect of an elemental, with his long silences and astonishing strength he resembles more a force of nature than just a man. It seems scarey to me that I, and I'm sure many others, can be so taken with this quiet and driven man. Maybe he is the best ranger ever invented, pure and simple. I don't know. His persistence and sense of duty will never be more eloquently displayed than in the last half of this book. And then there's Famous Shoes, and Mox Mox the man burner, great characters both, and the set pieces, like the escape from Crow town at night, preceeded by the death of the satanic piglord, these are all contrivances, great brushstrokes with which to paint such marvellous characters. Where Lonesome Dove was vibrant and filled with a passion for life and the frontier, this book takes us through the dust, and the plains, the hot dry desert and the emptiness that tugs so mercilessly at our composure. It is a powerful book, an intelligent and shocking book, and is beyond a doubt my favourite of McMurtys. You HAVE to read it. Really. You've got to. Honest.