The Master Executioner [Large Print]

By Loren D. Estleman

Book Overview

This large print edition features an easy-to-read larger type size while preserving the complete text of the original edition.

A New York Times Bestselling Author

Oscar Stone is a craftsman unlike any other -- his art lies in the gallows, where he ensures death is swift and precise. But as the bodies mount, so do the questions about justice, humanity, and the price of a life spent wielding death. When a shadow from his past resurfaces, Stone is forced to confront the truth about himself -- and the cost of a life spent in the service of death. Set against the gritty backdrop of frontier law and vengeance, Stone's story is one of profound complexity, where morality and duty clash.

• Format: Hardcover
• Large Print: Yes
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1420526820
• ISBN13: 9781420526820
• Release Date: November 2025
• Publisher: Thorndike Press Large Print
• Weight: 1.36 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.9" x 8.6"

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.