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Alcatraz
An American Western Classic! The west wind came over the Eagles, gathered purity from the evergreen slopes of the mountains, blew across the foothills and league wide fields, and came at length to the stallion with a touch of coolness and enchanting scents of far-off things. Just as his head went up, just as the breeze lifted mane and tail, Marianne Jordan halted her pony and drew in her breath with pleasure. Find out why the Saturday Review called this work, "nobly planned, nobly felt, nobly written"; the New York Times, "exceptionally solid--worked out with flawless skill"; and the New York Herald Tribune, "stirring"! Brand was one of America's most popular and prolific novelists and author of such enduring works as the Doctor Kildare stories-he died a hero on the Italian front in 1944, being personally commended for bravery by President Roosevelt. Add this exciting American classic to your Western library today!
Frederick Schiller Faust (1892-1944) was an American fiction author known primarily for his thoughtful and literary Westerns. Faust wrote mostly under pen names, and today he is primarily known by one, Max Brand. Others include George Owen Baxter, Martin Dexter, Evin Evans, David Manning, Peter Dawson, John Frederick, and Pete Morland. Faust was born in Seattle. He grew up in central California and later worked as a cowhand on one of the many ranches of the San Joaquin Valley. Faust attended the University of California, Berkeley, where he began to write frequently. During the 1910s, Faust started to sell stories to the many emerging pulp magazines of the era. In the 1920s, Faust wrote furiously in many genres, achieving success and fame, first in the pulps and later in the upscale "slick" magazines. His love for mythology was, however, a constant source of inspiration for his fiction and his classical and literary inclinations. The classical influences are particularly noticeable in his first novel The Untamed (1919), which was also made into a motion picture starring Tom Mix in 1920.
Frederick Schiller Faust (1892-1944) was an American fiction author known primarily for his thoughtful and literary Westerns. Faust wrote mostly under pen names, and today he is primarily known by one, Max Brand. Others include George Owen Baxter, Martin Dexter, Evin Evans, David Manning, Peter Dawson, John Frederick, and Pete Morland. Faust was born in Seattle. He grew up in central California and later worked as a cowhand on one of the many ranches of the San Joaquin Valley. Faust attended the University of California, Berkeley, where he began to write frequently. During the 1910s, Faust started to sell stories to the many emerging pulp magazines of the era. In the 1920s, Faust wrote furiously in many genres, achieving success and fame, first in the pulps and later in the upscale "slick" magazines. His love for mythology was, however, a constant source of inspiration for his fiction and his classical and literary inclinations. The classical influences are particularly noticeable in his first novel The Untamed (1919), which was also made into a motion picture starring Tom Mix in 1920.
251 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 1, 1922
48 people are currently reading
139 people want to read
About the author
Max Brand
1,821 books135 followersFrederick Schiller Faust (see also Frederick Faust), aka Frank Austin, George Owen Baxter, Walter C. Butler, George Challis, Evin Evan, Evan Evans, Frederick Faust, John Frederick, Frederick Frost, David Manning, Peter Henry Morland, Lee Bolt, Peter Dawson, Martin Dexter, Dennis Lawson, M.B., Hugh Owen, Nicholas Silver
Max Brand, one of America's most popular and prolific novelists and author of such enduring works as Destry Rides Again and the Doctor Kildare stories, died on the Italian front in 1944.
Max Brand, one of America's most popular and prolific novelists and author of such enduring works as Destry Rides Again and the Doctor Kildare stories, died on the Italian front in 1944.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
May 30, 2023
May 29, 2023 ~~ Whew. I have finished my re-read, i can breathe again. I had forgotten how intense, fast- moving, and exciting this 1922 book was. Luckily, the last couple of days I have been able to relax and spend as much time as I wanted by the computer, reading as fast as I could and living the adventure in my mind. I do that with most books, but even more so with a good rousing horse adventure like this one.
There is a great deal going on in this story: a struggling ranch, romance between the rancher's daughter and an apparent Bad Boy (don't we ladies love them!), an ornery foreman who wants to do everything his way, and of course the killer horse Alcatraz, the ultimate symbol of freedom.
What will the adventure bring to each of these characters? Will they learn to believe in true love and an honest partnership? What will they have to endure to reach that point? Full of edge of your seat action, this is certainly a candidate for my favorite Max Brand book ever.
May 26, 2023 ~~ I am wondering if this re-read will take away the flavor of The Stolen Stallion, the last Max Brand book I read. I remember being mightily impressed with this one nine years ago. What will I think this time around?
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Original review from February 2014
Wonderful...he captures the spirit of horse and man both....the ideal spirit that these days is so rarely in evidence.
There is a great deal going on in this story: a struggling ranch, romance between the rancher's daughter and an apparent Bad Boy (don't we ladies love them!), an ornery foreman who wants to do everything his way, and of course the killer horse Alcatraz, the ultimate symbol of freedom.
What will the adventure bring to each of these characters? Will they learn to believe in true love and an honest partnership? What will they have to endure to reach that point? Full of edge of your seat action, this is certainly a candidate for my favorite Max Brand book ever.
May 26, 2023 ~~ I am wondering if this re-read will take away the flavor of The Stolen Stallion, the last Max Brand book I read. I remember being mightily impressed with this one nine years ago. What will I think this time around?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Original review from February 2014
Wonderful...he captures the spirit of horse and man both....the ideal spirit that these days is so rarely in evidence.
July 31, 2017
I enjoyed this book very much. A good romantic western.
March 17, 2019
Excellent story about an amazing horse, the awesome man who admired and pursued him, the rancher’s daughter who loved the man, her depressed and disabled father, and the tumultuous path taken to bring them all together.
December 5, 2020
Maybe this is a hokey romance ... or a melodrama. As for the use of guns -- I could have done without the slaughter of the wild horses, and while using squirrels as targets is probably realistic, I don't like it.
Here's the (awkward) first sentence:
The west wind came over the Eagles, gathered purity from the evergreen slopes of the mountains, blew across the foothills and league wide fields, and came at length to the stallion with a touch of coolness and enchanting scents of far-off things.
Here's the (awkward) first sentence:
The west wind came over the Eagles, gathered purity from the evergreen slopes of the mountains, blew across the foothills and league wide fields, and came at length to the stallion with a touch of coolness and enchanting scents of far-off things.
February 26, 2016
It's been a long time since I've read a horse story that was so good. He understands horses & portrays them as individuals shaped by breed and the environment in which they were raised. His descriptions makes one feel like they are seeing & experiencing the horses first hand. Plus, he developed his human characters in a manner that you cheer for the heros & despise the villians. Definitely recommend this book to any horse lover!
March 2, 2012
Very good story. It keeps your interest throughout the book. An animal lover's book. Actually listen to it as an audible book.
October 22, 2022
I've been in a bit of a Western renaissance as of late. Back in May I bought a book at a library sale called Zeke and Ned (by Larry McMurtry) and it was... pretty dang good. Might be the best non-speculative fiction book I've ever read. I got this book at the same time, and after writing my own (albeit fantastical) western short story, I wanted to try out Max's Brand (pun intended) of western fiction via my 1970s Warner Paperback reissue of Alcatraz, or as mine is titled, Devil Horse.
This book starts off with a beautiful, albeit runon sentence about a breeze gathering purity from the other side of the mountains and washing it over a horse. Very nice prose for a pulpy 1922 western. Sadly, the second half of the opening paragraph was kind of jumbled and hard to understand. I would soon find that this unevenness runs through the entire book.
But before I vomit my complaints onto my computer keyboard, let's talk about the story. The book opens with a horsewoman (Marienne or... something) talking to a cruel Mexican horse-owner. She's looking to buy some 'Colts,' but fears their price will be too high if they win the race that afternoon. Therefore, she's looking for his horse - the fabled Alcatraz - to take down the Colts in the race. Alcatraz is a dangerous horse though, carved into a hate-filled monster after years of abuse at the Mexican's hands, and he nearly tramples the Mexican to death after winning the race. Alcatraz is free, and soon decides to free the horsewoman's new colts from their pen because he's... smart enough to know where the gate latch is?... this book is kind of ridiculous.
Then you have our human characters, such as the aforementioned horsewoman, who tries to operate the ranch that her father ran before he had an accident. Now she grapples for control with the foreman he hired to run the place. Matters are complicated when she hires a cowpuncher (cowboy, apparently) to kill Alcatraz and get the Colts back. The foreman learns that Big Red is the man who shot the ranch owner's leg years ago, so he leaves after leaving a note that told his daughter the foreman was in charge. Time for some quick-to-escalate, melodramatic scenes to occur. The characters were... okay? Big Red was consistent. The horsewoman was consistent, aside from a hysterical outburst or two... which was still pretty good for a female lead for 1922. That surprised me a bit. The foreman was... either a weaselly coward or full of animalistic courage depending on the scene.
This is not a great plot or cast, but it's workable if you give it to someone like Larry McMurtry. He'd turn it into a sweeping epic and manage to have you in every character's head all of the time and keep you comprehending every action. Sadly, Brand is not as skilled at omnipresent third person, for two (while, more than that) big reasons: Grammar and perspective. First, going back to the McMurtry comparison, one notable part of Zeke and Ned was how cleanly he handled the omnipresent perspective. Brand here really makes a mess of it; there are a lot of horse-narrated scenes, and when people enter them, you'll often be in their head before you have a chance to ask what the Hell is going on. It's really herky jerky and (word of the day) inconsistent. Minor things to start, for sure, but it adds up to a really annoying read.
And then, the grammar... look, I understand that grammar was different a hundred years ago, but I can read Wells and Verne and Doyle and even Dickens and not complain about the artifacts of olde written language. But this... I couldn't keep a quarter of the sentences straight at first because everything is scatterbrained. Grammar rules are both upheld and violated within ten words of each other. Not only is in incoherent, it's annoying. I understand misprints and the like, but I feel like this was just thrown together and... it was hard to read, especially the first forty pages, which sent me to bed feeling pissy. It did get easier as the book went on.
So after all that, it's no surprise that I only gave this book two stars. I don't know how I will numerically rate books I don't like yet, because I've had really good luck since I started numbering, but we'll give this... 4.5 or 5? I think 4.5 because I have a hard time finding any really good part of this book. It's not even okay. But it's also not out there killing babies, so it won't get a 4 or worse. I was never tempted... well, except for a minute that first night... to throw it across the room. But I can't do that because books are too precious. And I'm glad that my next read will be a glorious return to science fiction via more Expanse. For now, Devil Horse will go on the shelf and I will steer away from Max Brand for the foreseeable future unless he happened to write a really pretty book.....
This book starts off with a beautiful, albeit runon sentence about a breeze gathering purity from the other side of the mountains and washing it over a horse. Very nice prose for a pulpy 1922 western. Sadly, the second half of the opening paragraph was kind of jumbled and hard to understand. I would soon find that this unevenness runs through the entire book.
But before I vomit my complaints onto my computer keyboard, let's talk about the story. The book opens with a horsewoman (Marienne or... something) talking to a cruel Mexican horse-owner. She's looking to buy some 'Colts,' but fears their price will be too high if they win the race that afternoon. Therefore, she's looking for his horse - the fabled Alcatraz - to take down the Colts in the race. Alcatraz is a dangerous horse though, carved into a hate-filled monster after years of abuse at the Mexican's hands, and he nearly tramples the Mexican to death after winning the race. Alcatraz is free, and soon decides to free the horsewoman's new colts from their pen because he's... smart enough to know where the gate latch is?... this book is kind of ridiculous.
Then you have our human characters, such as the aforementioned horsewoman, who tries to operate the ranch that her father ran before he had an accident. Now she grapples for control with the foreman he hired to run the place. Matters are complicated when she hires a cowpuncher (cowboy, apparently) to kill Alcatraz and get the Colts back. The foreman learns that Big Red is the man who shot the ranch owner's leg years ago, so he leaves after leaving a note that told his daughter the foreman was in charge. Time for some quick-to-escalate, melodramatic scenes to occur. The characters were... okay? Big Red was consistent. The horsewoman was consistent, aside from a hysterical outburst or two... which was still pretty good for a female lead for 1922. That surprised me a bit. The foreman was... either a weaselly coward or full of animalistic courage depending on the scene.
This is not a great plot or cast, but it's workable if you give it to someone like Larry McMurtry. He'd turn it into a sweeping epic and manage to have you in every character's head all of the time and keep you comprehending every action. Sadly, Brand is not as skilled at omnipresent third person, for two (while, more than that) big reasons: Grammar and perspective. First, going back to the McMurtry comparison, one notable part of Zeke and Ned was how cleanly he handled the omnipresent perspective. Brand here really makes a mess of it; there are a lot of horse-narrated scenes, and when people enter them, you'll often be in their head before you have a chance to ask what the Hell is going on. It's really herky jerky and (word of the day) inconsistent. Minor things to start, for sure, but it adds up to a really annoying read.
And then, the grammar... look, I understand that grammar was different a hundred years ago, but I can read Wells and Verne and Doyle and even Dickens and not complain about the artifacts of olde written language. But this... I couldn't keep a quarter of the sentences straight at first because everything is scatterbrained. Grammar rules are both upheld and violated within ten words of each other. Not only is in incoherent, it's annoying. I understand misprints and the like, but I feel like this was just thrown together and... it was hard to read, especially the first forty pages, which sent me to bed feeling pissy. It did get easier as the book went on.
So after all that, it's no surprise that I only gave this book two stars. I don't know how I will numerically rate books I don't like yet, because I've had really good luck since I started numbering, but we'll give this... 4.5 or 5? I think 4.5 because I have a hard time finding any really good part of this book. It's not even okay. But it's also not out there killing babies, so it won't get a 4 or worse. I was never tempted... well, except for a minute that first night... to throw it across the room. But I can't do that because books are too precious. And I'm glad that my next read will be a glorious return to science fiction via more Expanse. For now, Devil Horse will go on the shelf and I will steer away from Max Brand for the foreseeable future unless he happened to write a really pretty book.....
April 30, 2024
Back in the days of the Old West, there was nothing more revered or important than that of a horse. In fact, Capital punishment was often handed down in many states for offenses that lead up to the theft of a man's horse.
The storyline goes on to describe in brilliant detail how a cowboy, Red Jim Perris, set himself upon a mission to catch and tame a wild horse. But not just any horse. It had to be, Alcatraz.
What this magnificent specimen lacked in thoroughbred quality more than made up for In his unusual speed, when it was called upon. Yet it was this high spirited nature that set him apart from all other horses that could be tamed. The battle lines were drawn. With no other possible outcome, there would only be one victor, Red Perris or Alcatraz. Let the rivalry begin.
The storyline goes on to describe in brilliant detail how a cowboy, Red Jim Perris, set himself upon a mission to catch and tame a wild horse. But not just any horse. It had to be, Alcatraz.
What this magnificent specimen lacked in thoroughbred quality more than made up for In his unusual speed, when it was called upon. Yet it was this high spirited nature that set him apart from all other horses that could be tamed. The battle lines were drawn. With no other possible outcome, there would only be one victor, Red Perris or Alcatraz. Let the rivalry begin.
November 6, 2021
I have heard a lot about Max Brand as a western author, so I went into this with high expectations. Perhaps too high. The plot is decent. The characters, I found stilted, whether they were the girl, the cowboy or the villain. The horses as characters were a bit better. Then I thought back to The Black Stallion series and the Louis L'Amour books I read when I was a lot younger. And all of the boy's adventure series about being forest rangers during the 1920's. This is par for the course. So, a good read just very different from what I got used to in longer, more detailed westerns. I will have to read some more Brand nobels to see how they compare.
April 12, 2020
Alcatraz
This story was a complete surprise to me! What a wonderful story of man and beast,of trust, mistreatment,of in the end, love,gentleness and caring built a strong bond between the horse,and,someone who wanted to break the horse for control,but,in the end sacrifice his own desires for the safety and life of the horse! Amazingly spellbound reading!!!
This story was a complete surprise to me! What a wonderful story of man and beast,of trust, mistreatment,of in the end, love,gentleness and caring built a strong bond between the horse,and,someone who wanted to break the horse for control,but,in the end sacrifice his own desires for the safety and life of the horse! Amazingly spellbound reading!!!
January 29, 2021
Wonderful classic western
A will written romantic thriller western novel with interesting characters that are will developed. The story line is intense fast moving to a romantic conclusion. Enjoy reading 2021 😎🎉✨
A will written romantic thriller western novel with interesting characters that are will developed. The story line is intense fast moving to a romantic conclusion. Enjoy reading 2021 😎🎉✨
September 2, 2012
This book had ups and downs. It was very hard to get into at first, that my have been due to my lack of knowledge on horses and the old west. This book however deals with the trust of men and their animals really. As this horse Alcatraz is a horse who had been bread to race escapes his masters home and gets used to freedom. His escape comes at a terrible price though as he becomes known as a murderous beast and Marianne the new ranch owner wants him killed, but Alcatraz is a smart, tough an seems to be a magical horse, able to mystify his hunters that are unable to catch him. Marianne calls in the only man that can catch him Red Jim Perris, and at this point (nearly halfway through the book) is when the story picks up, nothing is straightforward in this book, the scenes with action are written quite well though.
May 26, 2017
If you like Westerns, you'll like Max Brand. Alcatraz is a wild horse and Brand alternates the narrative between the people struggling to hold onto a ranch and the horse as he breaks from a cruel master and learns to survive on the plains. I plan to read more of his many novels, and I'm not a big fan of Westerns. I do like his perspective.
June 14, 2016
this is about a horse - not the prison. but I read it an enjoyed it
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews