Title: No Traveller Returns
Author: Louis L’Amour with Beau L’Amour
Published: 2018
Call # FIC L’Amour
Born in North Dakota, Louis L’Amour was
encouraged to live a life of adventure after reading the
stories of Joseph Conrad. As a young man, L’Amour
joined the merchant marines. As a result of
his experiences, he wrote his first novel, No
Traveller Returns, but the novel was not published until his son, Beau
L’Amour, completed and released it for the first time in
2018. In the book, Beau L’Amour describes his father’s
early life and career. The book also features a merchant
marine ship’s diagram, personnel job descriptions and a glossary
as an assist to the reader.
The story begins with the ship, the
S.S. Lichenfield, traveling west from San Pedro to Manila with 80,000
barrels of naphtha, a highly volatile cargo with the potential to explode
when mixed with oxygen. The time period is February
1939, just before World War II. The plot is told through
the lives of multiple characters who leave families, broken marriages
or are fugitives from justice. The story is tied together
through the first person narrative of John Harlan, the Second
Mate. The stories are moving with contemplation on their lives and
the risky profession that the merchant marines have pursued.
The book may be of interest to fans of Louis L’Amour’s
westerns and those who are interested in sea stories during World War II.
The story is similar to Caine Mutiny, by Henry Wouk.
Janice B.
Popular Materials Asst.