Black Mesa

by Zane Grey

Arriving in the desert at the foot of Black Mesa, two men - one hiding from a shady past and the other running from a haunting memory - start a cattle ranch, but a ruthless trader and wild women could ruin their prospects...

Genres: Westerns, Fiction

218 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1955

About the author

Pearl 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.

Reviews

[Fran · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up.
Grey, once again was able to tame the wilds of West, with its beauty and raw majesty, with his lyrical words. It took me a couple chapters to dicepher the vernacular and speech of these Texans, but I muddled through. There were so many elements to the story that made this wonderful. The characters became flesh and blood easily through Grey's hand. If you haven't tried reading a Western this is one that has enough various elements to keep most people engaged. Recommend.

[Nicole CSJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

My grandparents had Zane Grey books on their shelves and I’ve always wondered what his stories were like. Truthfully, other than some horribly outdated terms and viewpoints - unfortunately used at the time - I was pleasantly impressed. The writing style and characters, including location, kept me interested and I was shocked by the focus on love. Read Lonesome Dove a while ago which had a totally different approach. And now realize I had a prejudice about westerns or books (I perceive as) for tough men (like my grandpa). Hun…

Will definitely read more Zane Grey.

[Russell G Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exciting mixture of crime, cowboys, cattle, and love.

Rich young man goes West to rediscover his life and finds friends, opportunities, love and dangers galore while in the beautiful western mountains.

[Kelsey Grissom · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up, only because Black Mesa featured some really interesting variances from Zane Grey’s usual work. Black Mesa started out *very* slow and with all of the difficulties and annoyances that 1950’s Westerns often bring, but soon enough the plot was complicated in an unusual way that had me interested. Towards the end of the book, the writing brilliantly bordered on magical realism (“Black Seeps” got better and better) without seeming silly, and the landscape and weather descriptions were very well done. Black Mesa had by far the most sexual tension of Grey’s novels that I’ve read so far (still within 1950’s bounds though), and cinema-quality drama and dialogue, as usual. The addition of a second hero threw me off a little, and I’m curious about how it may have influenced later great Westerns who feature a self-sacrificing side-kick best friend.

[Marvin Henry · Rating 1 out of 5]

I listened to the audio-book read by Dave Webber and found it nearly unbearable. The reader has a very odd way of depicting voices of women, but my biggest problem was with the text itself. Zane Grey writes in a shallow, juvenile manner that is almost unendurable. The plot in this novel is very childish and I could hardly wait for the thing to be done with. I suppose Zane Grey wrote in a time when that sort of writing was acceptable. Personally, I much prefer the Louis L'Amour when it come to western writers.

[Shae · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably one of my least favorite Zane Grey books. I loved the setting, the description of landscape even, but the basic plot is a cowboy falling in love with a married woman whose husband is a crook and a brute, which feels a lot like a justification. Also, the hero confronts the awful husband to kill him, but then the husband falls off the cliff on his own and oh yes, he's conveniently not really married to his wife because has a previous, still living wife. In short, this book just doesn't age well and can fade from the reading pool.

[Robert Hepple · Rating 2 out of 5]

First published in book form in 1955, 'Black Mesa' is a fairly routine western set in an unspecific fictional location near the Colorado River. The plot, involving cattle rustling and embezzlement amongst other things is often either simplistic or muddled, and is far from Grey's best - perhaps this explains why it took so long after his death before it was published in book form. It is still readable, and the style is often very atmospheric like so many of Grey's.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A typical Zane Grey western. I enjoyed listing to the audio book while walking the dog. The story ending like I suspected but still a good listen. Zane Grey brings the old west to life with its villains and hero's. Don't expect any unexpected surprises but you can enjoy the story.

[Tiffany McWilliams · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was definitely a western. But it had a few twists that took me by surprise.

[Frank Maurer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Greed, Passion, Death in wild western lands

Characters and plot are well crafted. Love arrives after a genuine struggle against evil. A greedy man meets a well deserved fate.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book by the author.
Totally engrossing characters and great ending.

[Ryan Young · Rating 1 out of 5]

not much here, to be honest. i could see it on tmc in the dead of night, octagenarians enjoying an hour and 20 minutes of nonsense western. but i won't visit this well again.

[RW · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining struggle between a couple of good guys and a bad guy, with a few desperate women mixing things up. Desert scenery top notch as usual with ZG.

[Henry L Miller Jr · Rating 5 out of 5]

as always Zane Grey delivers a good story He had a tremendous knowledge of the western part of our country…..My father was an admirer also I have now read most of his books ( I think)

[Mark Drinnenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first Zane Grey novel. I enjoyed the story and the characters who inhabit it. What stands out to me are the picturesque descriptions of landscapes and weather phenomena. The words paint pictures.

[Malcolm · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book because I was interested to see what was the appeal of Zane Grey having read a synopsis of Riders of the Purple Sage and having watched part of a film of another of his books. Those experiences suggested to me he had some appalling attitudes.

Black Mesa is another romance, where the main story is about the trials and tribulations of a young couple who can not be together. The characters are two dimensional. Paul Manning is truly honorable while John Belmont is pure evil. Louise is a damsel in distress and Wes Kintell is treated as a figure of fun. The torturous way his Texan accent was spread o nthe page became quite grating. Only Sister is treated in any complexity, but she remains a minor figure. However Zane Grey discusses the plight of the native Americans with much sympathy. These are not noble savages; nor are they treacherous crazy savages.

The novel is set in the Arizona Desert among cattle and Native Americans so it counts as a western. However, the strength and rewarding aspect of this novel is Grey's description and love for the desert even with the heat and the sandstorms. I learnt a lot more about the desert from reading this book than I learnt from Western movies and geography lessons at school and university.

[Duzzlebrarian · Rating 1 out of 5]

I gave up on this audiobook. Why is it that some male readers read female dialogue in an idiotic breathy falsetto? Nobody talks like that, dammit, and I find it frickin' offensive.

I'd probably have given up on it anyway. Nothing happens at Black Mesa, other than moping around in bad weather. The lead character seems too much like a Mary-Sue to take seriously. And Zane Grey seems to think that a forced marriage is Shock/Horror/Somebody-Do-Something! instead of a nasty tradition all over the world and really really old news.

[Chaston Kome · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun cowboy thriller. Certainly not woke, and at times unable to give its plot any moral complexity (main character loves a married woman? resolve by making her marriage invalid). But as with any Zane Grey, easy fun.

[Frank · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't quite know what it is, but I have a hard time enjoying Zane Grey books. :(

[Katie Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. Not much actually happened.