Loren D. Estleman
Journey of the Dead (1998)
Author: Loren D. Estleman
Genre (and subgenre): Western
Plot Summary:
The card-playing friendship of Pat Garrett and Billy Bonney comes to a quick end when Sheriff Garrett kills Bonney, also known as the infamous Billy the Kid. This isn’t the end of Garrett’s encounters with Billy, however; his dreams are haunted by Billy’s ghost. Garrett seeks the help of a Spanish alchemist to relieve the nightmares. He continues to suffer throughout his life, failing at several jobs, including ranching. In the end, Billy’s ghost seeks his revenge and murders Garrett.
Geographical Setting: Southwest: New Mexico, Texas
Time Period: ~ 1885
Appeal Characteristics:
The main characters are revealed early in this fictional account of Pat Garret and Billy the Kid. The prose is often poetic, describing both the scenery and beauty of the west, as well as the historical aspects of alchemy. Chapters are of average length, but the book is divided into four major sections which reflect changes or events in the main character’s life. Interspersed is the story of an aged Spanish alchemist, with descriptions of metals, herbs, and tinctures. It is truly a tale of the west with a satisfying ending. Although the characters are of historical relevance, the author adds fictional elements to their lives thereby enriching their senses of character. The story focuses primarily on one character, Sheriff Pat Garrett and his life following his assassination of Billy the Kid. Interestingly, the story is a first person account told by the alchemist, an important secondary character. The author intends to tell a tale of the west, but does so in a way which draws the reader into the mind of its main character. Location is relevant; depictions of the towns, townspeople, and bars add detail to the Southwest setting. Winner of the 1999 Golden Spur Award.
Similar Authors: Louis L'Amour, Max Brand, Zane Grey, Clifford Blair, Robert J. Conley, Tom Edison, Janice Holt Giles, Terry C. Johnston, Jake Logan, Giles Lutz, F.M. Parker, Luke Short, Richard S. Wheeler, Jeanne Williamson.
Red Flags: Minimal sporadic profanity; drug references in terms of medicinal healing; multiple depictions of women as whores.
The Master Executioner (2001)
Author: Loren D. Estleman
Genre: Western
Plot Summary:
The novel tells the tale of Oscar Stone, a famous hangman in the Old West. After fighting in the Civil War, Stone sells the family farm near York, Pennsylvania, and following a lengthy courtship, marries Gretchen. A carpenter, the newly-married man leads his wife to Kansas to work on the growing frontier. There he meets Rudd, a hangman for the Army. Rudd finds Stone a natural hangman, and takes Stone as his apprentice at Fort Leavenworth. Stone finds satisfaction and good money in his new trade. Unfortunately, Stone’s wife cannot bear to be married to a hangman, leaves him. Stone spends the next decades traveling from town to town, perfecting his technique, and drawing some notoriety. He leads a lonely life; while society needs his services, the people are repelled by his work. Stone occasionally searches for his lost wife, and finds, years later, that she had given birth to a boy, possibly his son. SPOILER: When he receives word the boy had been executed for murder, Stone is horrified to learn that he may have been the man who hanged him.
Geographical Setting: The Great Plains and Rocky Mountains
Time Period: 1865-1897
Appeal Characteristics:
The novel is a psychological portrait of a man who is both respected and shunned by a society that values his services. Stone is as lonely a figure as the gunman in Shane and countless other tales of men who drift from place to place in the West. The other appeal element is the realistic portrait of Stone’s trade; as macabre a subject as hanging may be, it is a fascinating subject and the nuts-and-bolts descriptions of how executions work may appeal to some looking for a realistic portrait of an unusual historical subject.
Similar Authors: Larry McMurtry; Cormac McCarthy; W.E. Davis; Win Blevins; Glendon Swarthout
Red Flags: Many hangings; descriptions of violent crimes; some language
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