3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Passionless, December 6, 2001
By A Customer
It's clear to me that many readers, and many professional reviewers, liked this book. I, unfortunately, couldn't manage to.
This is the story of Oscar Stone, professional hangman, from his Civil War experiences to nearly the turn of the century. I found the plot to be flat, lacking in climactic events and tension. Stone becomes a hangman, his wife leaves him, and then... well, he hangs people. The story is about how his profession changes him, and also about how the West changes during his lifespan. I found the plot dull, though, essentially because I couldn't get into Stone as a character. A psychiatrist would say he has a "flat affect". He has little personality, little passion. The end of the story, which should be devastating, lacks impact because of the character's lack of apparent emotion about anything. Even when he searches for his wife, when he learns his son is dead, we never really get into Stone's head. Stone's wife is an utter cipher, even when she explains her motives.
The book is written in a spare, occasionally awkward style. Dialogue stands out, with Rudd, Stone's mentor, being particularly well done in this regard. A use of language which some reviewers have interpreted as stark and stylish came across to me as quite boring. I got very little sense of the sounds, smells and sights of the West -- with the exception of a wealth of detail on carpentry and hanging ropes.
Estleman does seem to have a good grasp of his period, with only a few minor errors (La Matte for LeMat) apparent. However, he tends to "tell" rather than "show" his historical information, enhancing the dry, dull feeling of the book.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Supurb storytelling, August 7, 2001
Estleman is at his peak. Mailer and King have both told execution stories, but neither can compare to the chilling reality Estleman brings to this tale. The diction rings true; nary a word is misplaced. And this care of the language makes his journey down this seldom travelled road both a reading pleasure and a commentary on man's motivation. If you read nothing else this summer, read this.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Master Writer, August 18, 2003
No one writes a better western than Loren D. Estleman. In The Master Executioner, Estleman tells the story of a hangman in the middle of the 19th century. As is always the case with this author, the reader is treated to incredible dialogue and characters that are immediately drawn with a few expert lines and details. I will not give away the ending, suffice to say this is a terribly sad novel about a complex and very unique man. Estleman is too fine a writer to pull at your heartstrings in a clichéd or obvious way. The man character, Executioner Oscar Stone, is not the sort of character that would easily win a reader's sympathy. He is, first and foremost, a hangman. He is also a hard, cold individual never at ease among his fellow humans. Yet, in Estleman's expert hands, this character lives and breaths and, finally, effects the reader very deeply.
Estleman is also the master of the authentic western. This book contains rich, detailed portraits of western towns, both large and small, from this time period. He is always accurate in the details, and I always feel Estleman gives me the most accurate portrait of how things really must have been in the West, more so than any other author. For the best taste of this, one should read Bloody Season by this author for the best account of the Shootout at the OK Corral.
Fascinating characters and great, original writing. Buy this book. You will not regret it.
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