Full Description
Too Strong to Die is a western, written in the style of a narrative from the point of view of the main character. The story is based on observations of how challenging and unforgiving life can be, especially at that time in the west. He finds himself abandoned aged 8 after his mother dies from illness and just 1 year later his father is killed by his own prize bull.
The young man has to be tough in order to just survive, as he details the astonishing cruelties he has endured. It leaves the reader wondering how has he made it to adulthood.
Throughout his life he meets many people but only very few become important to him.
He also has a few love interests, one of which is one of two twin sisters, known simply as CLANCY. Through his journey he also forges meaningful relationships with a horse named, THE MEXICAN and a very old hand made gun named, THE OUTLAW.
Very few of his interactions are positive however, he interacts with several outlaws who are murderers and rapists and a deadly venomous snake who he thinks is a hallucination.
There is as always a nemesis, in fact in this case there are at least two. One of whom, takes the character prisoner before employing him, then eventually treating him as an equal. This ends in an emotional stand off where both men swear to give the other the honorable death he deserves.
Each chapter has a mini story within it. Which usually either starts with a crisis where the character works through to a resolution. Or is a quiet time when nothing particularly bad is happening and then it all falls apart and he is left working out what to do about it, which often means who to kill.
Tragedy befalls him, then again, and then again. He is at a time a tool for good, at other times an instrument of death and at one point even an enemy of the authority he helped to protect.
He tries to warn others against using their body and mind as weapons or tools for hire to be used and discarded freely. Despite the title, the young man does indeed die, several times but never for long. In the end though, sadly but unsurprisingly he loses his grip of reality.
Contents
1ST. THE BEGINNING.
2ND. VISITORS.
3RD. GOING HOME.
4TH. GROWING STRONGER.
5TH. TARANTULA.
6TH. GOING TO TOWN.
7TH. DON'T BANK ON IT.
8TH. MIMI AND ME.
9TH. WAYNE MORGAN.
10TH. GET A ROOM.
11TH. JUDGE WOODROOF.
12TH. INITIATION.
13TH. PASSED THE TEST.
14TH. INTO THE FUTURE.
15TH. A SPIRITUAL JOURNEY.
16TH. MADNESS!
17TH. CONSPIRACY.
18TH. VINCENTE.
19TH. THE MEXICAN.
20TH. THE LIEUTENANT.
CHAPTER 21. IN CONTENTION, IN CONTEMPT.
22ND. THEY SAY YOU SHOULD NEVER GO BACK.
23RD. TO THE MOON AND BACK!
24TH. HOMEWARD BOUND.
25TH. OLD MAN NOLAN.
26TH. CHAPTER. THE NEW MARSHAL.
CHAPTER 27. DISCOVERING SENIOR DELGADO.
CHAPTER 28. BETTER THAN THE ONLY REMAINING ALTERNATIVE.
CHAPTER 29. WAITING FOR A WOLF.
CHAPTER 30. A LEAVE OF MY SENSES.
CHAPTER 31. TO KILL OR NOT TO KILL.
CHAPTER 32. REMORSE.
CHAPTER 33. THE BEGINNING OF THE END.
CHAPTER 34. COYOTE STEALS FIRE.
CHAPTER 35. ONE LAST JOB TO DO.
CHAPTER 36. THIS IS THE END!
36.25. ERROR! NOT FOUND.
36.5. THERE CAME A BEAR!
36.75. FULL CIRCLE.
