The Master Executioner

By Loren D. Estleman

Book Overview

Ordinary people do not understand Oscar Stone. Everything he does, he does impeccably. He is a profound student of his art, completely versed in its traditions over the centuries. He is a student of ropes and their properties, a master of the latest scientific knowledge about the human neck, a careful calculator of weights and drops, and an exacting observer of results. For more than a quarter of a century he has worked to create a reputation as a man peerless in his craft: the master executioner. Yet he is utterly alone: His devotion to his work costs him his marriage. Suddenly, one day, a piece of his past catches him unawares, and Oscar comes to a moment of devastating truth and for the first time knows himself.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312869703
• ISBN13: 9780312869700
• Release Date: June 2001
• Publisher: Forge Books
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.8" x 1.0" x 5.7"

Customer Reviews

A Master Writer

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.

Hell's Bells!

What I really want to know is why, how, why do they turn to the left a half turn? They are just hanging from a rope. How does the rope know? Tom Horn had a perfect hanging in Steve McQueen's movie. "... he joined the others in that graceful half turn to the left." "The rope caught with a quivering twang, a gentle bass note heard only by Stone...The rope creaked, rotating a half turn to the left." "The rope creaked and the body turned halfway around to the left, a pendulum drifting to a halt." "The platform twitched...then it swayed in accompaniment with the creaking of the rope as the body completed its semi revolution to the left." The "Tombstone Epitaph," writer was surprised by the ending of the "Master Executioner." Nevertheless, the ending was foretold about a hundred pages in when Rudd revealed, "Hell's Bells, you could fill a book with them..

A good read!

The Master Executioner offers a carefully crafted look into a time and subject we all thought we knew but one that Estleman took the time to research and then weave into another one of his well written books. Like most of his other works there's always the story but more importantly there are the things or descriptions that stay with you long afterward, eh not to mention German-speaking Indians! I'm not looking for fine lit in a western but I'm always amazed when writers like Estleman and Leonard provide it anyway.

Choices have consequences

A teenager enlists in the Union army after his brother is killed at Gettysburg. After 20 months service that includes witnessing a summary military hanging, he walks home to Pennsylvania. After apprenticing as a carpenter, he marries and moves to Kansas a year behind the wave he thought would make his fortune. His first job is to build a scaffold. Soon, he leaves his wife to become the master executioner.A tightly told meditation on choice, responsibility, authority, and capital punishment. Set long before Nuremburg but right in the middle of our debates about capital punshment and the U.S. role in the world. A fresh, dare I say entertaining, presentation without argument or pedentry.This is the first of Estleman's books I have read. He is a great story teller. I can't wait to read more. The best book I read in 2001.

Supurb storytelling

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.