NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MENI had a really hard time following the story line. With hardly any distinctive quotation marks and punctuation, I couldn't tell right away who the narrator was for each chapter until half way through each one. There were no quotation marks, so at first I didn't know where dialog began or ended. I know this is an artistic style of writing, but personally I have a hard time following it.

And my apologies again to all those who raved about this book, because the story was fantastic. What helped me a lot was watching the movie a few days after finishing the book, and it helped put the chapters together for me. As I watched the movie, I saw that the script followed almost to a tee the original book, including a lot of the dialog. This is the type of book that I think one needs to read more than once to really appreciate it. I do recommend the book to those who are true book fans, and who can appreciate a different style of writing.

With all that said, here's a short summary of NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN: Chigurh is a loner, a man that has only one business in mind - killing. Moss is a man that happens to come upon a stash of money in the millions, and while he is perfectly aware that there must be someone out there looking for it, he doesn't immediately know that one of the many who want that money back is Chigurh. Moss also is about to find out how good Chigurh is when it comes to getting what he wants, and getting rid of people who get in his way or detract him from a job well done. There is also the sheriff who knows Moss is on the run, and that Chigurh is on Moss's trail. It's a race against time as the sheriff tries to prevent another killing.

This is one very violent story, and while I said I had a difficult time with the writing style, it is still a very good tale and one that I will not forget for many years to come. One thing that stands out is the highly descriptive writing. One can picture in detail every thing that is happening. I suggest that all who read this book watch the movie as well, because both complement each other. I rarely will watch a movie and read a book that the movie was based on, mainly because it's rare to find a movie turn out as good as the original book. NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN is an exception.

Cormac McCarthy is considered middle-aged man who is growing disillusioned about his job and finds himself in the middle of a crime spree that's the worst in his career.More significantly, Moss is also being hunted moving story; the ending, however, is a bit of a letdown.For this reason, I am giving this book four starts, albeit a high four stars.If you like action stories with a more "literary" bent, this is a good choice.

No Country for Old Men begins promisingly enough. After a brief rumination about sending a killer to death row a stone killer who proceeds to dispatch (while wearing handcuffs, no less)first the deputy who has arrested him and then an unlucky motorist whose car he subsequently absconds with. The two killings are bloody and brutal and readers are surely in store for a modern-day shoot-`em-up with a literary flair. It is Cormac McCarthy, after all.

We then meet another character, one Llewelyn Moss, who happens upon a drug deal gone bad. Along with some dead bodies (and one live one), Moss finds a truckload of heroin and a satchel containing several million dollars. He takes the money, heads home, hides it under a bed, and then returns to the area about twelve hours later with a jug of water because he feels guilty about abandoning a thirsty drug dealer. Of course, he runs into the owners of the money, they give chase, and the game is afoot.

Chigurh is hot on Moss's trail, leaving numerous dead bodies in his wake. Sheriff Bell is after the drug dealers and tries to save Moss from the deadly clutches of the bad guys (including Chigurh) after him. Moss gets shot. Chigurh gets a load of buckshot in his leg. There's a bloody shootout involving Chigurh and numerous bad guys. In the midst of all this mayhem, the narrative is interrupted every so often won truths with whoever will listen.

McCarthy manages to paint a vivid picture of Texas at the Mexican border, but when two of the main characters in the book disappear and the reader fails to care, something is very wrong with the narrative. especially when Sheriff Bell's musings increased from a page and a half to four pages. There's only so much homespun philosophizing one can take.

This is an extraordinarily complex and nuanced novel masquerading as a shoot 'em up.Like other of McCarthy's stories, the novel is propelled moving plot, the message seems to be inescapably dark: evil is afoot in the world, and we lack the tools and the will to defeat it.Our only small victories come from love and trust and as much selflessness as we can muster.

The writing is extraordinary.McCarthy's style is of course mannered, but his words flow from the page and the voices of his characters are remarkably clear.The book is a delight to anyone who loves the language and loves to see it used well, and the story works on so many levels that it is difficult to imagine anyone -- apart from those who find violence offensive --who will not find something to take away from this novel.

If you like your conflicts fully resolved, you may want to look elsewhere; if you're bothered year-old, female hitchhiker, who proves to be too much of a distraction.

About two-thirds of the way through the book, the focus switches from Llewelyn to Sheriff Bell, who's trying to save Llewelyn from himself. There's more quirky point of view stuff going on here as McCarthy has Bell tell us what he's thinking in first person, then switches immediately to third, still using Bell as a focus. Bell philosophizes about how he's never seen criminals quite as bad as these drug pushers. He never really believed in Satan until confronted with these people. McCarthy does like to preach occasionally and Bell is a willing stand-in; he indicts not only the drug pushers, but also the people who buy them, and he also seems to hint at some kind of organized crime syndicate that is intentionally chipping away at the American character, hence the title NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN.

I have to admit that I was completely caught off guard by what happened to Llewelyn Moss. It happens after a jump cut, and I kept thinking McCarthy was playing some kind of trick on the reader. No such luck. McCarthy is just as ruthless as Chigurh, the hit man. And there's another surprise in story when it comes time to resolve Sheriff Bell's story arc. You won't believe that one either.