Yesterday, after returning from National Conference, I finished Robert Parker’s western, Resolution. I started it just before heading off to the conference, and read about 100 pages while there. It’s a pretty quick read, and reads fast. You don’t lose interest.

Resolution is a sequel to Appaloosa, which was made into a movie starting Ed Harris and Aragorn…I mean, Viggo Mortenson. They are a team of freelance lawmen who hire themselves out to towns as sheriff and deputy. It’s not what they do in Resolution, but it’s what they’d done for 15 years.

The books are told first-person by Everett Hitch, the sidekick, a graduate of West Point and veteran of the Indian Wars. Mortenson played him expertly in the movie. Parker strictly follows the first-person approach, not alternating between first- and second-person, ala Richard Patterson. Hitch is in every scene, and you see nothing that Hitch doesn’t see. (Appaloosa actually started with a second-person back-story scene, but once Hitch appears, it’s all his point of view.)

Ed Harris played the part of Virgil Cole, the truly expert gunslinger–a very quiet, introspective fellow. He is an utterly fascinating character.

I’m trying to remember how I mentally pictured Virgil Cole when I read Appaloosa, Because throughout Resolution, I could only see Ed Harris. That’s one of the curses of Hollywood. I could only picture Viggo Mortensen as Hitch, too. I initially had trouble seeing Ed Harris in that role, but his performance redeemed it. 

I’m sure Resolution will become a movie, and I hope Harris and Mortenson return. Parker has written a third book, Brimstone, now in hardback. This raises the possibility of a western movie franchise. When has that happened last? John Wayne did two Rooster Cogburn movies. Before that, you had Clint Eastwood’s Spaghetti Western flicks, where he basically played the same character. It would be great to see a 21st Century western series. I don’t imagine Westerns are expensive to make. 

Resolution makes many references back to Appaloosa, particularly regarding Virgil Cole’s lady friend there. Since “Appaloosa” religiously followed the book, I would imagine they would do the same in Resolution. I just hope they can get Ed Harris and Viggo Mortenson back. They played their roles in an appropriately understated, but convincing, way. I’m sure that when I read Brimstone, I will again be picturing them.