I was messing around on the internet one day and found a list of the best Western novels ever written. This book was on that list. It was certainly one of the best Westerns I've ever read. It captured the mood of the landscape. I felt the cold, the lonliness and the emptiness as I read. The characters are very well drawn, and I wanted them to succeed. The ending was predictable, but that was OK, because it ended the way I wanted it to.