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The Mysterious Rider
Rancher Bill Belllounds had brought up Columbine as though she were his daughter. Out of affection for her foster father, Columbine had agreed to marry Bill's son., Jack-a drunkard, gambler, coward, and thief. But the man she really loved was cowboy Wilson Moore, and he was everything Belllound's son should have been.
Then the strange, clairvoyant little man they called Hell-Bent Wade came to work at the ranch. "You can believe me when I say somethin' will happen," he declared prophetically. "Columbine isn't goin' to marry Jack Belllound's.
Then the strange, clairvoyant little man they called Hell-Bent Wade came to work at the ranch. "You can believe me when I say somethin' will happen," he declared prophetically. "Columbine isn't goin' to marry Jack Belllound's.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1919
About the author
Zane Grey
1,800 books617 followersPearl Zane Grey was an American author best known for his popular adventure novels and stories that presented an idealized image of the rugged Old West. As of June 2007, the Internet Movie Database credits Grey with 110 films, one TV episode, and a series, Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater based loosely on his novels and short stories.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 106 reviews
November 12, 2019
An interesting and twisting plot. Full of good description, character development and cowboy action. Old man Bill, Hell Bent Wade Buster Jack, Wils Moore and the beautiful Columbine are the main characters on the White Slides Ranch novel by the masterful Zane Grey. Western writing at it's finest.
August 12, 2017
I usually love Zane Grey, but not this one. Let me summarize:
columbine: I have to marry Jack! I must for my father
Wils: But I love you
Columbine: I can never marry Jack! It would be wrong! I love you!
twenty pages later:
Columbine: I have to marry Jack! I must for my father!
Wils: But why Columbine? It will ruin you! I love you!
Columbine: I'll never marry Jack! It'll ruin me! I love you!
twenty pages later:
you get the idea.
Also twenty pages of Bent hunting and description of everything he sees in between every "I must marry Jack".
I spent the whole book hoping Bill and Jack died an ugly death. I got half of it.
columbine: I have to marry Jack! I must for my father
Wils: But I love you
Columbine: I can never marry Jack! It would be wrong! I love you!
twenty pages later:
Columbine: I have to marry Jack! I must for my father!
Wils: But why Columbine? It will ruin you! I love you!
Columbine: I'll never marry Jack! It'll ruin me! I love you!
twenty pages later:
you get the idea.
Also twenty pages of Bent hunting and description of everything he sees in between every "I must marry Jack".
I spent the whole book hoping Bill and Jack died an ugly death. I got half of it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 23, 2022
An enjoyable read with wonderful writing!
June 16, 2019
.
The Mysterious Rider
• by Zane Gray (first published 1919)
Late 1800s.
The story of "Collie", Columbine Bellounds, named after the flower. She grew up on her adopted father's Colorado ranch, White Slides along with cowboy-ranch hand Wilson Moore (Wils) who loves her and Buster Jack the owner's son who endlessly harassed her. Collie was a young child when she was found in the wild, asleep among the Columbine flowers--a survivor from a wagon train attacked by Indians.
The wealthy and admired rancher Bill Bellounds agrees to adopt the girl and raise her as his own. From about age 12 to 16 (4 years) she was sent to Denver for boarding school. Now age 19 she's the only woman on the ranch and her adopted dad (Bill) tells her he wants her to marry his ne'er-do-well son Buster Jack and help straighten him out. The two are not related. Bill (dad) is aging and doesn't want to divide up all his ranch lands between his two heirs, so what could be better--have them marry one another.
The mystery: where has ne'er-do-well Jack been for the past 3 years. Someplace humiliating, "It was hell," says Jack, a place Jack hopes no one finds out about. It's a place dad supposedly sent him to hopefully see Jack reformed. Nope. Buster Jack is still an incompetent, crooked, hothead who busts up everything he monkeys with. Bill (dad) is a fool where his son is concerned, making Buster Jack ranch foreman. Straightaway ranch hands start quitting, a horse is hurt and hounds lost.
It was just prison where Jack stewed for 3 years, returning home unreformed and bad as ever.
Now Bill is in desperate need of good ranch hands, especially a hunter to train the hounds, track and kill the wolves, lions and coyots etc that are decimating his herds. Hell-Bent Ben Wade is such a man, a jack-of-all-trades who heads for the ranch seeking work. Wade has a heart of gold and selflessly helps those in need, but "hell" seems to dog his trail; where he goes trouble often follows.
Wade's secret shame is his mistreatment of his wife Lucy and his baby daughter and the man he killed who turned out to be innocent. Many years ago Wade was a jealous fool, his suspicion and absence driving his wife away. When he learned the truth and went after Lucy and his baby girl he heard the news of the wagon train attack. As Wade makes his way on horseback towards Bill's ranch, plenty of gossips fill him in on all the doings at the White Slides Ranch. Hearing the tale of Columbine (Collie), the time and location she was found, he suspects the nineteen-year-old is indeed his lost baby girl.
Author Zane Gray seems determined to make his long-suffering protagonist Collie endlessly care about Jack, her POS step-brother. Collie is a young woman with a misguided loyalty to the father figure who raised her (Bill). Out of respect, a sense of duty or recompense for adopting her, Collie promises to marry dad's bent son (Buster Jack) who she fears and loathes.
When alchi Jack arrives thoroughly drunk on the day of the wedding, dad-Bill calls it off, to Collie's great relief. She seems to come to her senses and finally vows her loyalty to her beau, the ranch hand Wils. Jack behaves (for a while) in hope of dad again forcing Collie to marry him. When Jack discovers she's in love with Wils, he reverts to his evil ways. Collie's unbelievable response is to again plan to marry the hateful Jack and pretend to love him in order to save him from his vices. Since he behaved when he thought she wanted him, maybe he'd choose to be good if she married him.
What's the concern for this criminal with an evil nature who tormented Collie since she was a child?
Jack is just bad. He tried to beat convalescing Wils to death, making him a cripple with a clubfoot who now uses a cane. Dad's missing cattle are being rustled by Jack; stealing from his own father. Since Wils has captured Collie's love, Jack tries to frame him as the cattle rustler, leaving imprints in the dirt that look like Wils' cane and horse.
When Ben Wade is hired at the ranch he doesn't tell Collie that he's her missing dad, since she so loves her adopted father Bill. Ben does make it a priority to keep her safe. He also believes bad folk can repent and change their ways; he did. So Ben Wade tries to encourage Jack to turn over a new leaf, choose to be an honorable man and even trys scaring him straight with genuine death threats. Nope! Jack is just bad to the bone. Wade believes this is why God led him here--to prevent his kind-hearted daughter from being forced to marry the devil. "... I'd see Jack in hell before I'd let Columbine marry him," Ben vows.
In the end Ben Wade lives up to his two monikers. As Heaven-Sent Wade he doctors Wils back to health, trains the hounds and stops the cattle-killing predators. Also he helps others in need using his many talents. As Hell-Bent Wade he confronts the rustlers & killers working with Buster Jack--ending them when they draw on him. Ben Wade trys to persuade Bill Bellounds to listen to reason (he doesn't). Bill just can't see that his criminal son (Jack) would ruin Collie's life if they married. Wade even tells Bill his life story ending with the secret that Collie is his long-lost daughter.
As a last resort Ben Wade confronts Jack, challenging him to a gunfight. For whatever reason Ben lets Jack fire first (a lethal shot). Ben is able to return fire killing Jack the bastard. With his son dead, Bill's judgement seems to clear up. He hires Wils back as ranch foreman and Collie gets to marry her beau. Bill even reveals the truth, Ben being Columbine's long lost dad and she visits Ben Wade's grave site.
.
Okay the story was written a hundred years ago using lots of time period slang, but is easy enough to decipher and follow.
It's tuff to care about Collie with her idiotic concern for the evil Jack, which is really the author's doing--making his long-suffering protagonist reason like a moron.
A couple examples of the somewhat obscure writing:
"Bill's daughter, an' she makes up fer-fer-wal, fer a lot we hev to stand."
"Lemme sit hyar an' shoot the eyes outen this-lyin' pup..."
..
The Mysterious Rider
• by Zane Gray (first published 1919)
Late 1800s.
The story of "Collie", Columbine Bellounds, named after the flower. She grew up on her adopted father's Colorado ranch, White Slides along with cowboy-ranch hand Wilson Moore (Wils) who loves her and Buster Jack the owner's son who endlessly harassed her. Collie was a young child when she was found in the wild, asleep among the Columbine flowers--a survivor from a wagon train attacked by Indians.
The wealthy and admired rancher Bill Bellounds agrees to adopt the girl and raise her as his own. From about age 12 to 16 (4 years) she was sent to Denver for boarding school. Now age 19 she's the only woman on the ranch and her adopted dad (Bill) tells her he wants her to marry his ne'er-do-well son Buster Jack and help straighten him out. The two are not related. Bill (dad) is aging and doesn't want to divide up all his ranch lands between his two heirs, so what could be better--have them marry one another.
The mystery: where has ne'er-do-well Jack been for the past 3 years. Someplace humiliating, "It was hell," says Jack, a place Jack hopes no one finds out about. It's a place dad supposedly sent him to hopefully see Jack reformed. Nope. Buster Jack is still an incompetent, crooked, hothead who busts up everything he monkeys with. Bill (dad) is a fool where his son is concerned, making Buster Jack ranch foreman. Straightaway ranch hands start quitting, a horse is hurt and hounds lost.
It was just prison where Jack stewed for 3 years, returning home unreformed and bad as ever.
Now Bill is in desperate need of good ranch hands, especially a hunter to train the hounds, track and kill the wolves, lions and coyots etc that are decimating his herds. Hell-Bent Ben Wade is such a man, a jack-of-all-trades who heads for the ranch seeking work. Wade has a heart of gold and selflessly helps those in need, but "hell" seems to dog his trail; where he goes trouble often follows.
Wade's secret shame is his mistreatment of his wife Lucy and his baby daughter and the man he killed who turned out to be innocent. Many years ago Wade was a jealous fool, his suspicion and absence driving his wife away. When he learned the truth and went after Lucy and his baby girl he heard the news of the wagon train attack. As Wade makes his way on horseback towards Bill's ranch, plenty of gossips fill him in on all the doings at the White Slides Ranch. Hearing the tale of Columbine (Collie), the time and location she was found, he suspects the nineteen-year-old is indeed his lost baby girl.
Author Zane Gray seems determined to make his long-suffering protagonist Collie endlessly care about Jack, her POS step-brother. Collie is a young woman with a misguided loyalty to the father figure who raised her (Bill). Out of respect, a sense of duty or recompense for adopting her, Collie promises to marry dad's bent son (Buster Jack) who she fears and loathes.
When alchi Jack arrives thoroughly drunk on the day of the wedding, dad-Bill calls it off, to Collie's great relief. She seems to come to her senses and finally vows her loyalty to her beau, the ranch hand Wils. Jack behaves (for a while) in hope of dad again forcing Collie to marry him. When Jack discovers she's in love with Wils, he reverts to his evil ways. Collie's unbelievable response is to again plan to marry the hateful Jack and pretend to love him in order to save him from his vices. Since he behaved when he thought she wanted him, maybe he'd choose to be good if she married him.
What's the concern for this criminal with an evil nature who tormented Collie since she was a child?
Jack is just bad. He tried to beat convalescing Wils to death, making him a cripple with a clubfoot who now uses a cane. Dad's missing cattle are being rustled by Jack; stealing from his own father. Since Wils has captured Collie's love, Jack tries to frame him as the cattle rustler, leaving imprints in the dirt that look like Wils' cane and horse.
When Ben Wade is hired at the ranch he doesn't tell Collie that he's her missing dad, since she so loves her adopted father Bill. Ben does make it a priority to keep her safe. He also believes bad folk can repent and change their ways; he did. So Ben Wade tries to encourage Jack to turn over a new leaf, choose to be an honorable man and even trys scaring him straight with genuine death threats. Nope! Jack is just bad to the bone. Wade believes this is why God led him here--to prevent his kind-hearted daughter from being forced to marry the devil. "... I'd see Jack in hell before I'd let Columbine marry him," Ben vows.
In the end Ben Wade lives up to his two monikers. As Heaven-Sent Wade he doctors Wils back to health, trains the hounds and stops the cattle-killing predators. Also he helps others in need using his many talents. As Hell-Bent Wade he confronts the rustlers & killers working with Buster Jack--ending them when they draw on him. Ben Wade trys to persuade Bill Bellounds to listen to reason (he doesn't). Bill just can't see that his criminal son (Jack) would ruin Collie's life if they married. Wade even tells Bill his life story ending with the secret that Collie is his long-lost daughter.
As a last resort Ben Wade confronts Jack, challenging him to a gunfight. For whatever reason Ben lets Jack fire first (a lethal shot). Ben is able to return fire killing Jack the bastard. With his son dead, Bill's judgement seems to clear up. He hires Wils back as ranch foreman and Collie gets to marry her beau. Bill even reveals the truth, Ben being Columbine's long lost dad and she visits Ben Wade's grave site.
.
Okay the story was written a hundred years ago using lots of time period slang, but is easy enough to decipher and follow.
It's tuff to care about Collie with her idiotic concern for the evil Jack, which is really the author's doing--making his long-suffering protagonist reason like a moron.
A couple examples of the somewhat obscure writing:
"Bill's daughter, an' she makes up fer-fer-wal, fer a lot we hev to stand."
"Lemme sit hyar an' shoot the eyes outen this-lyin' pup..."
..
February 7, 2024
Feb 6, 2024: beautiful 103-year-old Grosset & Dunlap copy from a Little Free Library. Same vintage as many books in my ancestral “boy-book” library.
After the first few pages it was obvious how this tale was going to end, and it was no literary gem, so I considered adding it to the "abandoned" list. But credit inertia or maybe even sloth . . . the next book I NEED to read wasn't shouting my name, so on we pressed. And yes, the ultimate end was predictable, but how we got there was not . . . credit the "mysterious rider" of the title.
The Wonderful World Wide Web says Zane Grey wrote 85 books that have been turned into 112 films, and I'm pretty sure he wrote a bunch of magazine stories, too, because that's what writers of his vintage and subject matter did. But boy, did he churn out a leafy word salad in this book. Never has so much scenic description adorned so thin a plot. There were SO MANY ADJECTIVES in every scene that I stopped trying to build a mental picture. Check, interesting light. Check, vivid hues on the mountains. Check, floral tributes on all sides. Check, etc, etc, etc.
Characters -- a handful of cowboys, a rancher, his ne'er-do-well son, a foundling girl, and the mysterious stranger (not counting "extras") -- were sometimes cardboard, other times inconsistently rendered. One wondered at times how some of the characters could be so DENSE. Clueless? Yes!
Horses and dogs played significant roles. Much anthropomorphism at work here, but who are we to quibble?
Best part of the experience -- being reminded how much our culture and literary styles have changed since this was written 100+ years ago. It was a good exercise.
Will not seek out another Zane Grey. But am happy to have this lovely old copy on the shelf for others to read.
Note: why in the world would anyone choose to name a character Belllounds? Yes, that is a triple-L in the middle -- and I'm going to guess that it was a typo on first reference that was carried throughout.
4/8/25: Reviewing the lake-house library, I find I need to add a few more volumes from my “owned-unread” shelf so I have more to read here—and I probably should forget the idea expressed above about having books on the SHELF for others to read. They don’t, so it’s all about ME!
After the first few pages it was obvious how this tale was going to end, and it was no literary gem, so I considered adding it to the "abandoned" list. But credit inertia or maybe even sloth . . . the next book I NEED to read wasn't shouting my name, so on we pressed. And yes, the ultimate end was predictable, but how we got there was not . . . credit the "mysterious rider" of the title.
The Wonderful World Wide Web says Zane Grey wrote 85 books that have been turned into 112 films, and I'm pretty sure he wrote a bunch of magazine stories, too, because that's what writers of his vintage and subject matter did. But boy, did he churn out a leafy word salad in this book. Never has so much scenic description adorned so thin a plot. There were SO MANY ADJECTIVES in every scene that I stopped trying to build a mental picture. Check, interesting light. Check, vivid hues on the mountains. Check, floral tributes on all sides. Check, etc, etc, etc.
Characters -- a handful of cowboys, a rancher, his ne'er-do-well son, a foundling girl, and the mysterious stranger (not counting "extras") -- were sometimes cardboard, other times inconsistently rendered. One wondered at times how some of the characters could be so DENSE. Clueless? Yes!
Horses and dogs played significant roles. Much anthropomorphism at work here, but who are we to quibble?
Best part of the experience -- being reminded how much our culture and literary styles have changed since this was written 100+ years ago. It was a good exercise.
Will not seek out another Zane Grey. But am happy to have this lovely old copy on the shelf for others to read.
Note: why in the world would anyone choose to name a character Belllounds? Yes, that is a triple-L in the middle -- and I'm going to guess that it was a typo on first reference that was carried throughout.
4/8/25: Reviewing the lake-house library, I find I need to add a few more volumes from my “owned-unread” shelf so I have more to read here—and I probably should forget the idea expressed above about having books on the SHELF for others to read. They don’t, so it’s all about ME!
January 15, 2015
As with Grey's other books, his description of magnificent outdoor splendor develops the atmosphere of this novel about conflict and romance on a Colorado cattle ranch. Strangely enough the Mysterious Rider does not initially appear until the stage is set and other characters are introduced. Consequently, the late arrival helps the reader know the importance of the Rider's role in this novel and how he ultimately relates to each character and influences their destiny in his brief time with them. This book is, therefore, a subtle reiteration of Donne's statement that "no man is an island," and whether for good or bad, all human beings have a significant affect on each person to whom they associate. To me, this was the strongest message in this enduring western tale. Furthermore, the lessons and virtues taught in this novel are timeless such as the Rider's repeated quote from the New Testament that "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." To some, the admonitions offered are old-fashioned drivel from an early 20th century writer, but for me it was a reminder of why we are here.
June 1, 2023
Zane Grey knows how to paint the West:
"A dreamy roar of water rushing over rocks rang in the traveler's ear. It receded at times, then grew louder. Presently the forest shade ahead lightened and he rode out into a wide space where green moss and flags and flowers surrounded a wonderful spring-hole. Sunset gleams shone through the trees to color the wide, round pool. It was shallow all along the margin, with a deep, large green hole in the middle, where the water boiled up. Trout were feeding on gnats and playing on the surface, and some big ones left wakes behind them as they sped to deeper water. Wade had an appreciative eye for all this beauty, his gaze lingering longest upon the flowers. 'Wild woods is the place for me,' he soliloquized, as the cool wind fanned his cheeks and the sweet tang of evergreen tingled his nostrils."
"A dreamy roar of water rushing over rocks rang in the traveler's ear. It receded at times, then grew louder. Presently the forest shade ahead lightened and he rode out into a wide space where green moss and flags and flowers surrounded a wonderful spring-hole. Sunset gleams shone through the trees to color the wide, round pool. It was shallow all along the margin, with a deep, large green hole in the middle, where the water boiled up. Trout were feeding on gnats and playing on the surface, and some big ones left wakes behind them as they sped to deeper water. Wade had an appreciative eye for all this beauty, his gaze lingering longest upon the flowers. 'Wild woods is the place for me,' he soliloquized, as the cool wind fanned his cheeks and the sweet tang of evergreen tingled his nostrils."
Read
March 23, 2026"There's a grain of good in all men- something divine. An' it comes out now an' then. Men rise on steppin'-stones of their dead selves to higher things." - cowboy wisdom from 'Hell Bent Wade'.
This was a wonderfully entertaining read for me. I love this western/cowboy genre. Yes, a sweet romance was included - from an old cowboy's point of view - without the syrup that accompanies many romances. This story was real, unvarnished and took you out to the rugged West on horseback. The characters were perfectly flawed! Gunslingers, gamblers, outlaws and drunkards - with some being a bit of each.
*Some parts rambled and took a little long for me, but upon finishing the book, I wouldn't have it any other way. If you haven't read something from this genre, take a gamble on this one. I loved it!
This was a wonderfully entertaining read for me. I love this western/cowboy genre. Yes, a sweet romance was included - from an old cowboy's point of view - without the syrup that accompanies many romances. This story was real, unvarnished and took you out to the rugged West on horseback. The characters were perfectly flawed! Gunslingers, gamblers, outlaws and drunkards - with some being a bit of each.
*Some parts rambled and took a little long for me, but upon finishing the book, I wouldn't have it any other way. If you haven't read something from this genre, take a gamble on this one. I loved it!
May 7, 2025
A typical Western from a great author. Nothing spectacular except for a major plot twist at the end of the story. I must also ask, who the heck names their child Columbine? With the modern hindsight, it's a rather morbid sounding name now. But I digress, this book is 100 years old.
September 19, 2019
A very satisfying read from Zane Grey. Columbines figure greatly, along with Hell Bent Wade, a man with a gift of seeing the future and making himself part of it.
July 27, 2020
A Western Story!
This is a western story with a lot of twists and turns! It deals with a lot of different emotions!
This is a western story with a lot of twists and turns! It deals with a lot of different emotions!
August 29, 2026
I like a good western and Zane Grey deal with complex issues when he writes.
October 23, 2011
The Mysterious Rider is a more complex novel about redemption. Still a western romance, the plot centers around a young woman, an orphan named Columbine, who is entrapped by her allegiances into considering marriage to the drunkard son of her adopted father.
"Hell Bent Wade" is the mysterious rider, a man with a veiled past who has spent his life helping others--usually with the business end of his pistol, to the detriment of the evil-doers.
The novel is more complex in its conflicts, though, than many of Grey's romances. Rancher Bill Belllounds is a good man who is blinded by his love for his son. Hell Bent Wade is a good man who has done bad things. Columbine is a good young woman who is conflicted between her needs and the needs of her adoptive father. Jack Belllounds is the weak son who is hot and cold on morality. The love interest, Wilson Moore, loves as only a cowboy can--silently worshipping the rancher's daughter.
If I didn't have faith that Zane Grey would work everything out in the end, I'd fear that the realists or naturalists would prevail and everything would go to hell in the end--death, grief and suffering, and waste of life. However, Grey believes in the hero, and in the end like Beowulf meeting Grendel, the warrior comes to the aid of the people.
A Note About Zane Grey:
Zane Grey wrote his stories for the people who bought them. White, Anglo-Saxon Protestants, preferably male, are the protagonists. Woman are bosom-clutching individuals, more emotionally fragile than men--strong but only in their own female way. Racial and ethnic minorities are of lesser stature than the WASP main characters. Grey's romanticized vision of the wild west, unfortunately, did not include the visionary equality of gender, race, or cultural diversity. He was a man of his times--and those times had their issues.
I have written earlier of Zane Grey that I have a love/hate relationship with his writing. I choose to accept, understand, and forgive--something he and many of his time were not able to do.
At Project Gutenberg, this novel is available as a free ebook: The Mysterious Stranger .
"Hell Bent Wade" is the mysterious rider, a man with a veiled past who has spent his life helping others--usually with the business end of his pistol, to the detriment of the evil-doers.
The novel is more complex in its conflicts, though, than many of Grey's romances. Rancher Bill Belllounds is a good man who is blinded by his love for his son. Hell Bent Wade is a good man who has done bad things. Columbine is a good young woman who is conflicted between her needs and the needs of her adoptive father. Jack Belllounds is the weak son who is hot and cold on morality. The love interest, Wilson Moore, loves as only a cowboy can--silently worshipping the rancher's daughter.
If I didn't have faith that Zane Grey would work everything out in the end, I'd fear that the realists or naturalists would prevail and everything would go to hell in the end--death, grief and suffering, and waste of life. However, Grey believes in the hero, and in the end like Beowulf meeting Grendel, the warrior comes to the aid of the people.
A Note About Zane Grey:
Zane Grey wrote his stories for the people who bought them. White, Anglo-Saxon Protestants, preferably male, are the protagonists. Woman are bosom-clutching individuals, more emotionally fragile than men--strong but only in their own female way. Racial and ethnic minorities are of lesser stature than the WASP main characters. Grey's romanticized vision of the wild west, unfortunately, did not include the visionary equality of gender, race, or cultural diversity. He was a man of his times--and those times had their issues.
I have written earlier of Zane Grey that I have a love/hate relationship with his writing. I choose to accept, understand, and forgive--something he and many of his time were not able to do.
At Project Gutenberg, this novel is available as a free ebook: The Mysterious Stranger .
November 7, 2014
Very good... His usual descriptive style was enjoyed, and the development of the characters. His way of depicting Wade I thought was especially interesting, and how he shows how Wade's dark premonitions build up to the climax of the story. "Thus she understood him. Love was the food of life, and hope was its spirituality, and beauty was its reward to the seeing eye. Wade had lived these great virtues, even while he had earned a tragic name."
February 13, 2023
Grey had a way with words that at times was quite beautiful, but some of the characters in this book were often maddeningly stupid, and the narrative got very repetitive. Memo to Columbine and Bill, get a freaking clue, you idiots.
July 8, 2015
get. to. the. point. O... My... Word...
December 4, 2020
This was my 18th Zane Grey novel. I've loved them all, but not this one. I'm not sure exactly what it was, but it just didn't do much for me.
December 4, 2023
review of
Zane Grey's The Mysterious Rider
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - December 3, 2023
I didn't find the right edition for this. I have a hardcover published by Black's Readers Service Company, copyrighted 1st in 1921, & for this edition in 1949.
I've always had a bias against Westerns, thinking of them as a popular genre not given to much substance. This bias applied to the movies as well as the novels. I have managed to enjoy the movies, partially b/c of the fantastic landscapes, partially b/c many Westerns have novelty act sidekicks who bring in an odd element.
I've had a particular bias against Zane Grey. This was made worse when President Reagan, the 1st president in my lifetime who struck me as a flagrant puppet, told the press that Zane Grey was his favorite writer. That was enuf to insure that Grey didn't have an ounce of intellect or intelligence to him.
Nonetheless, I was in Ohio in the beginning of September, 2023, making a movie in celebration of my 70th birthday, & I was desperate for something to do - Lo & Behold!, the Zane Grey Museum was nearby in Zanesville. The museum shared its theme w/ Route 40, the country's 1st interstate highway. I grew up near Route 40 in Baltimore so that part of the museum was enuf (barely) to prompt me to go there.
I went & found the museum charming & enjoyable, I was glad I went. The 2 employees were also charming so they helped my enjoyment along. In support of the museum & as a way of adding more props to my moviemaking I bought some things from their gift shop. They had what was probably Grey's complete works in various editions, many of them very cheap. I bought this novel for a mere $5.00. Given that I didn't expect it to be very good the price made me feel like I wasn't being too free w/ my limited budget.
The movie I made is called "SSH, Netu, Blynken, & OOF!". I love it. The section that was shot at the Zane Grey / National Pike museum begins here: https://youtu.be/6wRJknyxPRE?si=MARr0... . It's interrupted by other material & then has a brief reprise that ends around here: https://youtu.be/6wRJknyxPRE?si=VYm0W... . I recommend the museum, like many small museums it has many nice things about it that make it distinct. For one, I loved the dioramas, for another, I liked their collection of old vehicles. For yet another, the people who worked there were so nice it was worth the visit just to chat w/ them.
Columbine, the main protagonist of the story, has an unusual life-story &, at age 19, is about to face a very difficult life change:
"The brief story followed. Seventeen years ago miners working a claim of Belllounds's in the mountains above Middle Park had found a child asleep in the columbines along the trail. Near that point Indians, probably Arapahoes coming across the mountains to attack the Utes, had captured or killed the occupants of a praire-schooner. There was no other clue. The miners took the child to their camp, fed and cared for it, and, after the manner of their kind, named it Columbine. Then they brought it to Belllounds." - p 3
Hence the baby was raised by the rancher Bill Belllounds. Alas, as she's reached age 19 he's decided to arrange a marriage for her that goes against her own desires.
"["]I'm gettin' old. I reckon I'll never split my property between you an' Jack. So I mean you an' him to marry. You always steadied Jack. With a wife like you'll be—wal, mebbe Jack 'll—"
""Dad!" burst out Columbine. "Marry Jack!...Why I—I don't even remember him!"
"Haw! Haw!" laughed Belllounds. "wal, you doggone soon will. Jack's in Kremmlin', an' he'll be hyar to-night or to-morrow."
""Bur—I—I don't love him," faltered Columbine." - p 4
Jack, Belllounds's actual son, is an ornery cuss who brings misery to all that he touches. His father is somewhat blind to this. Marrying Columbine off to Jack is a way to absolutely ruin her life, her delicate sensitive nature. Alas, Collie, is loyal to her adopted father out of gratitude for his having raised her & will please him even at the price of her own self-destruction. Making matters more melodramatic, Collie is in love w/ another cowboy who works on the ranch.
""Forget my temper," begged the cowboy, looking down upon Columbine. "I take it all back. I'm sorry. Don't let a word of mine worry you. I was only jealous."
""Jealous!" exclaimed Columbine, wonderingly.
""Yes. That makes a fellow see red and green. Bad medicine! You never felt it."
""What were you jealous of?" asked Columbine.
"The cowboy had himself in hand now and he regarded her with a grim amusement.
""Well, Columbine, it's like a story," he replied. "I'm the fellow disowned by his family—a wanderer of the wilds—no good—and no prospects. . . . Now our friend Jack, he's handsome and rich. He has a doting old dad. Cattle, horses—ranches! He wins the girl. See!"" - p 14
Yes, this is pretty much a straight-up romance novel. I'm a romantic too - but my romance involves alotof orgasms, missing from this story.
""I love you!" she whispered, shyly, feeling the hot blood burn her.
"That whisper transformed Wilson Moore. His arm flashed around her neck and pulled her face down to his, and holding her in a close embrace, he kissed her lips and cheeks and wet eyes, and then again her lips, passionately and tenderly.
"Then he pressed her head down upon his breast.
""My God! I can't believe! Say it again!" he cried hoarsely." - p 148
"Belllounds was a cattleman, and he saw the possibilities there. To which end he sought the friendship of Piah, chief of the Utes. This noble red man was well disposed toward the white settlers, and his tribe, during these troublous times, kept peace with these invaders of their mountain home." - p 24
At least Grey doesn't promote a Divine Rights philosophy of Western Expansionism that has no problem w/ genocide. I take it that some of the other popular Western novelists weren't that sensitive.
Was there ever a cowboy that cursed like this?:
"["]Why, you——mahogany-colored, stump-legged, biped of a cowpuncher, I've had three hours' sleep in four nights!"
""What's a biped?" asked Bludsoe, dubiously.
"Nobody enlightened him.
""Wils, you-all air the only eddicated cowman I ever loved, but I'm a son-of-a-gun if we ain't agoin' to come to blows some day," declared Bludsoe.
""He sure can sling English, drawled Lem Billings. "I reckon he swallowed a dictionary onct."" - p 40
As soon as the Mysterious Rider enters the plot it's pretty obvious that he's Collie's missing actual father.
"["]Did you mean you'd been through the Park?"
""Once—long ago," replied Wade, staring with his great cavernous eyes into space. Some memory of Middle Park haunted him." - p 54
"Eighteen years ago he had driven the woman he loved away from him, out into the world with her baby girl. Never had he rested beside a camp-fire that that old agony did not recur! Jealous fool! Too late had he discovered his fatal blunder, and then had begun a search over Colorado, ending not a hundred miles across the wild mountains from where he brooded that lonely hour—a search ended by news of the massacre of a wagon-train by Indians.
"That was Bent Wade's secret." - p 60
""Baby would have been—let's see—'most nineteen years old by now—if she'd lived," he said. "A big girl, I reckon, like her mother. . . . Strange how, as I get older, I remember better!"" - p 61
Of course, the writing being the way it is, Collie doesn't find out Wade's her dad until much later. In the meantime, it's at least obvious that Grey really loves the natural environment that he's writing about.
"And the view was beautiful. The gray, rolling foothills, so exquisitely colored at that hour, and the black-fringed ranges, one above the other, and the distant peaks, sunset-flushed across the purple, all rose open and clear to her sight, so wildly and splendidly expressive of the Colorado she loved." - p 135
"The mustangs and colts in the pastures snorted and ran and kicked and cavorted; and on the hillsides the cows began to climb higher, searching for the tender greens, bawling for the new-born calves. Eagles shrieked the release of the snow-bound peaks, and the elks bugled their piercing calls. The grouse-cocks spread their gorgeous brown plumage in parade before their twittering mates, and the jays screeched in the woods, and the sage-hens sailed along the bosom of the gray slopes." - p 220
Not surprisingly, considering the traditional predictability of this novel, gender stereotyping is basic to it.
""And so I want you to know that it's Ben Wade who has saved me. Since I've been sick I've learned more of Ben. He's like a woman. He understands. I never have to tell him anything. You, Wilson, were sometimes stupid or stubborn (forgive me) about little things that girls feel but can't explain. Ben knows. I tell you this because I want you to understand how and why I love him. I think I love him most for his goodness to you. Dear boy, if I hadn't loved you before Ben Wade came I'd have fallen in love with you since , just listening to him talk of you. But this will make you conceited. So I'll go on about Ben. He's our friend. Why, Wilson, that sweetness, softness, gentleness about him, the heart that makes him love us, that must be only the woman in him.["]" - pp 206-207
As if a man can't be understanding?! SHEESH. Introduce me to one of these women that understand so much, PUH-LEAZE. I get the thing about girls being able to "feel but can't explain." & then there's the stereotype of men being bad cooks?! Gimme a break.
""Collie, I can get around first rate. Don't need my crutch any more. I can make a fire and cook a meal. Wade doesn't think so, but I do. He says if I want to hold your affection, not to let you eat anything I cook.["]" - p 212
This was ok, I wdn't recommend it to anybody. Maybe I'll check out one of the movies based on a Grey novel - but I'm not in any hurry.
Zane Grey's The Mysterious Rider
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - December 3, 2023
I didn't find the right edition for this. I have a hardcover published by Black's Readers Service Company, copyrighted 1st in 1921, & for this edition in 1949.
I've always had a bias against Westerns, thinking of them as a popular genre not given to much substance. This bias applied to the movies as well as the novels. I have managed to enjoy the movies, partially b/c of the fantastic landscapes, partially b/c many Westerns have novelty act sidekicks who bring in an odd element.
I've had a particular bias against Zane Grey. This was made worse when President Reagan, the 1st president in my lifetime who struck me as a flagrant puppet, told the press that Zane Grey was his favorite writer. That was enuf to insure that Grey didn't have an ounce of intellect or intelligence to him.
Nonetheless, I was in Ohio in the beginning of September, 2023, making a movie in celebration of my 70th birthday, & I was desperate for something to do - Lo & Behold!, the Zane Grey Museum was nearby in Zanesville. The museum shared its theme w/ Route 40, the country's 1st interstate highway. I grew up near Route 40 in Baltimore so that part of the museum was enuf (barely) to prompt me to go there.
I went & found the museum charming & enjoyable, I was glad I went. The 2 employees were also charming so they helped my enjoyment along. In support of the museum & as a way of adding more props to my moviemaking I bought some things from their gift shop. They had what was probably Grey's complete works in various editions, many of them very cheap. I bought this novel for a mere $5.00. Given that I didn't expect it to be very good the price made me feel like I wasn't being too free w/ my limited budget.
The movie I made is called "SSH, Netu, Blynken, & OOF!". I love it. The section that was shot at the Zane Grey / National Pike museum begins here: https://youtu.be/6wRJknyxPRE?si=MARr0... . It's interrupted by other material & then has a brief reprise that ends around here: https://youtu.be/6wRJknyxPRE?si=VYm0W... . I recommend the museum, like many small museums it has many nice things about it that make it distinct. For one, I loved the dioramas, for another, I liked their collection of old vehicles. For yet another, the people who worked there were so nice it was worth the visit just to chat w/ them.
Columbine, the main protagonist of the story, has an unusual life-story &, at age 19, is about to face a very difficult life change:
"The brief story followed. Seventeen years ago miners working a claim of Belllounds's in the mountains above Middle Park had found a child asleep in the columbines along the trail. Near that point Indians, probably Arapahoes coming across the mountains to attack the Utes, had captured or killed the occupants of a praire-schooner. There was no other clue. The miners took the child to their camp, fed and cared for it, and, after the manner of their kind, named it Columbine. Then they brought it to Belllounds." - p 3
Hence the baby was raised by the rancher Bill Belllounds. Alas, as she's reached age 19 he's decided to arrange a marriage for her that goes against her own desires.
"["]I'm gettin' old. I reckon I'll never split my property between you an' Jack. So I mean you an' him to marry. You always steadied Jack. With a wife like you'll be—wal, mebbe Jack 'll—"
""Dad!" burst out Columbine. "Marry Jack!...Why I—I don't even remember him!"
"Haw! Haw!" laughed Belllounds. "wal, you doggone soon will. Jack's in Kremmlin', an' he'll be hyar to-night or to-morrow."
""Bur—I—I don't love him," faltered Columbine." - p 4
Jack, Belllounds's actual son, is an ornery cuss who brings misery to all that he touches. His father is somewhat blind to this. Marrying Columbine off to Jack is a way to absolutely ruin her life, her delicate sensitive nature. Alas, Collie, is loyal to her adopted father out of gratitude for his having raised her & will please him even at the price of her own self-destruction. Making matters more melodramatic, Collie is in love w/ another cowboy who works on the ranch.
""Forget my temper," begged the cowboy, looking down upon Columbine. "I take it all back. I'm sorry. Don't let a word of mine worry you. I was only jealous."
""Jealous!" exclaimed Columbine, wonderingly.
""Yes. That makes a fellow see red and green. Bad medicine! You never felt it."
""What were you jealous of?" asked Columbine.
"The cowboy had himself in hand now and he regarded her with a grim amusement.
""Well, Columbine, it's like a story," he replied. "I'm the fellow disowned by his family—a wanderer of the wilds—no good—and no prospects. . . . Now our friend Jack, he's handsome and rich. He has a doting old dad. Cattle, horses—ranches! He wins the girl. See!"" - p 14
Yes, this is pretty much a straight-up romance novel. I'm a romantic too - but my romance involves alotof orgasms, missing from this story.
""I love you!" she whispered, shyly, feeling the hot blood burn her.
"That whisper transformed Wilson Moore. His arm flashed around her neck and pulled her face down to his, and holding her in a close embrace, he kissed her lips and cheeks and wet eyes, and then again her lips, passionately and tenderly.
"Then he pressed her head down upon his breast.
""My God! I can't believe! Say it again!" he cried hoarsely." - p 148
"Belllounds was a cattleman, and he saw the possibilities there. To which end he sought the friendship of Piah, chief of the Utes. This noble red man was well disposed toward the white settlers, and his tribe, during these troublous times, kept peace with these invaders of their mountain home." - p 24
At least Grey doesn't promote a Divine Rights philosophy of Western Expansionism that has no problem w/ genocide. I take it that some of the other popular Western novelists weren't that sensitive.
Was there ever a cowboy that cursed like this?:
"["]Why, you——mahogany-colored, stump-legged, biped of a cowpuncher, I've had three hours' sleep in four nights!"
""What's a biped?" asked Bludsoe, dubiously.
"Nobody enlightened him.
""Wils, you-all air the only eddicated cowman I ever loved, but I'm a son-of-a-gun if we ain't agoin' to come to blows some day," declared Bludsoe.
""He sure can sling English, drawled Lem Billings. "I reckon he swallowed a dictionary onct."" - p 40
As soon as the Mysterious Rider enters the plot it's pretty obvious that he's Collie's missing actual father.
"["]Did you mean you'd been through the Park?"
""Once—long ago," replied Wade, staring with his great cavernous eyes into space. Some memory of Middle Park haunted him." - p 54
"Eighteen years ago he had driven the woman he loved away from him, out into the world with her baby girl. Never had he rested beside a camp-fire that that old agony did not recur! Jealous fool! Too late had he discovered his fatal blunder, and then had begun a search over Colorado, ending not a hundred miles across the wild mountains from where he brooded that lonely hour—a search ended by news of the massacre of a wagon-train by Indians.
"That was Bent Wade's secret." - p 60
""Baby would have been—let's see—'most nineteen years old by now—if she'd lived," he said. "A big girl, I reckon, like her mother. . . . Strange how, as I get older, I remember better!"" - p 61
Of course, the writing being the way it is, Collie doesn't find out Wade's her dad until much later. In the meantime, it's at least obvious that Grey really loves the natural environment that he's writing about.
"And the view was beautiful. The gray, rolling foothills, so exquisitely colored at that hour, and the black-fringed ranges, one above the other, and the distant peaks, sunset-flushed across the purple, all rose open and clear to her sight, so wildly and splendidly expressive of the Colorado she loved." - p 135
"The mustangs and colts in the pastures snorted and ran and kicked and cavorted; and on the hillsides the cows began to climb higher, searching for the tender greens, bawling for the new-born calves. Eagles shrieked the release of the snow-bound peaks, and the elks bugled their piercing calls. The grouse-cocks spread their gorgeous brown plumage in parade before their twittering mates, and the jays screeched in the woods, and the sage-hens sailed along the bosom of the gray slopes." - p 220
Not surprisingly, considering the traditional predictability of this novel, gender stereotyping is basic to it.
""And so I want you to know that it's Ben Wade who has saved me. Since I've been sick I've learned more of Ben. He's like a woman. He understands. I never have to tell him anything. You, Wilson, were sometimes stupid or stubborn (forgive me) about little things that girls feel but can't explain. Ben knows. I tell you this because I want you to understand how and why I love him. I think I love him most for his goodness to you. Dear boy, if I hadn't loved you before Ben Wade came I'd have fallen in love with you since , just listening to him talk of you. But this will make you conceited. So I'll go on about Ben. He's our friend. Why, Wilson, that sweetness, softness, gentleness about him, the heart that makes him love us, that must be only the woman in him.["]" - pp 206-207
As if a man can't be understanding?! SHEESH. Introduce me to one of these women that understand so much, PUH-LEAZE. I get the thing about girls being able to "feel but can't explain." & then there's the stereotype of men being bad cooks?! Gimme a break.
""Collie, I can get around first rate. Don't need my crutch any more. I can make a fire and cook a meal. Wade doesn't think so, but I do. He says if I want to hold your affection, not to let you eat anything I cook.["]" - p 212
This was ok, I wdn't recommend it to anybody. Maybe I'll check out one of the movies based on a Grey novel - but I'm not in any hurry.
February 6, 2022
Pretty typical spaghetti western. You could probably write this kind of book with GPT3 now and it would be *very* tough to know whether a human being wrote it.
It was, however, a glimpse into a world of yore - a world without social media, without computers, without cellphone cameras, without police (more than the local sheriff and his toughs) where law an order was roughly people living up to their word. A world where you couldn't expect everyone around you to be literate. A world of hard work, hard men and hard times. A world where you had to reiterate what was going on to everyone because there was no central place to check for updates - consequently there was a lot of retelling of stories from people's different points of view, which were very divergent from eachother.
While there was the casual racism that you'd expect from such a time clearly present, the author was clearly a bleeding heart type - the Utes had to be driven off the land *first*, through good will negotiating before the story could take place, thus keeping the moral consequences from everyone being on land that was effectively native land only a generation or two prior from affecting the story. There were no africans except by reference. This was a story by whites, about whites, concerning their internal drama alone. About good and evil in the heart of the white man - phrased in terms of the white vs the not so white. Also notably absent was any mention of the civil war, which would have also taken place about a generation prior and *you'd think* would have impacted....someone's life, at some point in the storyline yet didn't seem to. It's like it never happened.
Either way - good enough for a bedtime read, but don't expect any kind of deep insight from this book.
Project Gutenberg has this one by the way.
It was, however, a glimpse into a world of yore - a world without social media, without computers, without cellphone cameras, without police (more than the local sheriff and his toughs) where law an order was roughly people living up to their word. A world where you couldn't expect everyone around you to be literate. A world of hard work, hard men and hard times. A world where you had to reiterate what was going on to everyone because there was no central place to check for updates - consequently there was a lot of retelling of stories from people's different points of view, which were very divergent from eachother.
While there was the casual racism that you'd expect from such a time clearly present, the author was clearly a bleeding heart type - the Utes had to be driven off the land *first*, through good will negotiating before the story could take place, thus keeping the moral consequences from everyone being on land that was effectively native land only a generation or two prior from affecting the story. There were no africans except by reference. This was a story by whites, about whites, concerning their internal drama alone. About good and evil in the heart of the white man - phrased in terms of the white vs the not so white. Also notably absent was any mention of the civil war, which would have also taken place about a generation prior and *you'd think* would have impacted....someone's life, at some point in the storyline yet didn't seem to. It's like it never happened.
Either way - good enough for a bedtime read, but don't expect any kind of deep insight from this book.
Project Gutenberg has this one by the way.
July 9, 2017
A good Western story in which a kind and generous rancher raises a handsome, spoiled, cowardly, deceitful, bad son, and adopts a baby girl found by miners after an Indian attack on a wagon train. The girl grows into a beautiful, loyal, loving, principled young woman, who feels she must pay back her dad for all the love and care he gave her. She and the evil son have been separated for a number of years due to schooling and other circumstances, and before Son comes home, Dad exacts a promise from her to marry his boy, because he believes only she can turn him around. Besides the obvious problem that this will absolutely ruin her life, she is in love with an honest, hardworking cowboy. (I did call her many names as she pondered this decision.) That stage is set before we meet "The Mysterious Stranger," known as "Hell-Bent" Wade, who has a habit of being compelled to turn up in places where he is able to help people with wise counsel, the story of his own life, and sometimes a little application of his awesome gunslinging talent. He has a dubious past, and trouble seems to follow in his wake. First published in 1921, I listened to this novel as a free download from Librivox.org, read by a very talented reader. (Several reviewers complained about the "cowboy talk" and "bad grammar;" all of that disappears when you listen to it read aloud.)
May 18, 2020
This is a classic example of a Wild West story with a love story thrown in to bind all the action together. An infant girl is found in the wilderness after Indians had attacked a wagon train. The child is raised by a generous, independent rancher along with his own no-good son. The rancher’s hope is that his natural son and the foundling girl will one day marry and continue his legacy. What happens becomes a complicated love triangle that will require some paternal intervention in order to finally come to a satisfactory resolution. The telling of the story includes Grey’s signature descriptions of the beauty of the Colorado landscapes from the plains to the mountains, sunrises and sunsets.
December 23, 2025
I don’t believe I have ever read a Zane Grey book before, so I was expecting something less. But I was blown away by the author’s apparent expert intuition of human nature as depicted in his characters. He also had a sixth sense for all things in the natural world as shown in the beautiful descriptions. The plot was excellent and multifaceted. In other words there was more than one reason to keep reading. Interestingly, when I looked up this author on Wikipedia, I found that he had been a dentist.
April 21, 2020
I haven’t read many westerns since the few I tried back in the 70s. About one chapter into the book, I started wondering if I had accidentally picked out a romance novel to read. I read some reviews here and decided to carry on. The romance bits were sometimes hard to take, but I still enjoyed it. I think I’ll find a copy of Riders of the Purple Sage and read that, and take care of my Zane Grey commitment.
August 3, 2024
When it comes to evoking western landscapes, nobody has done it better than Zane Grey. You can smell the tang of the sage, see the softly contoured foothills in the fading twilight. He gets everything right. And Hell-bent Wade is one of the greatest characters of not only the western genre, but of fiction in general. Heroic, quiet. Strong, yet haunted. Moral, but not without flaws--not without his own special darkness.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.
August 25, 2026
As flowing as the seasons
That my father told us he'd read Zane Grey as a young man seemed merely of passing interest to me in my own youth. But, now having had the pleasure of reading some of those stories, I realize how wonderful my father's unuttered recommendation was. This story fully engaged my interest and seems to me to have been written with fiercely gentle sensibilities.
That my father told us he'd read Zane Grey as a young man seemed merely of passing interest to me in my own youth. But, now having had the pleasure of reading some of those stories, I realize how wonderful my father's unuttered recommendation was. This story fully engaged my interest and seems to me to have been written with fiercely gentle sensibilities.
October 26, 2018
A great romantic western tale set on a Colorado cattle ranch. Read when I was a kid, junior high age, more or less. I remember it as awesome. An orphan girl named Columbine has been raised by the rancher who expects her to marry his no-good son. But she loves Wils Moore, a cattle hand. Into this situation comes the Mysterious Rider, "Hell-Bent" Wade.
July 29, 2023
Western Romance
This is a book I had read long ago. Zane Grey describes a land of wildness, wilderness, deep romance, and of justice. I read this story with the the light of adolescent ideals. I reread this story with the light of maturity. I enjoyed it more having already lived much of my life.
This is a book I had read long ago. Zane Grey describes a land of wildness, wilderness, deep romance, and of justice. I read this story with the the light of adolescent ideals. I reread this story with the light of maturity. I enjoyed it more having already lived much of my life.
August 23, 2025
I really enjoyed this book. I really enjoy Zane Grey. Although they are stories of the West and from the past, they still ring true. I enjoyed seeing the simple people representing good and innocence and the people who represent imperfection turning into evil. Good always wins and today, I needed that ending.
October 29, 2025
intensely grey
Zane Grey uses words to paint pictures of the West he visited and loved. He is elegant in his style and generous with his visions. To me, the story suffers from his endless descriptions of the setting of each scene. Brand, Mulford or Lane would have stripped away much of the scene painting and given the reader a more direct story.
Zane Grey uses words to paint pictures of the West he visited and loved. He is elegant in his style and generous with his visions. To me, the story suffers from his endless descriptions of the setting of each scene. Brand, Mulford or Lane would have stripped away much of the scene painting and given the reader a more direct story.
May 22, 2020
Written almost a hundred years ago, it moves a bit slower than more modern westerns. But the good plot and characters were a refresh change from today's fast moving works that rely on fast action rather than a good story line.
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