My favorite McCarthy book, but it puts the reader through his paces. Dense, violent, and told as if from thousands of years of distance with Biblical-mythical tone and diction, it eventually reveals itself as a metaphor for man's predation across the Western landscape (well, at least it did for me). I almost quit on it 2/3rds of the way through--I just wasn't equal to it, in the final assessment--but rebounded to enjoy the cold-eyed ending. Not recommended for readers requiring a character who provides a moral center. The Judge ranks right up there with Ahab, like the reviews say.