The Mysterious Rider

This is Zane Gray at his best. The book is captivating and the descriptions of nature and scenery amazingly accurate. It's a glimpse into a time long gone with a storyline which keep you wondering...what's next. Very entertaining and highly recommended for relaxed reading.

As always Zane Grey did a really great job on the Mysterious Rider. The biggest problem I found with the book was that it was hard to put down. I found myself staying up very late because he keeps you in suspense. Its a great western book.

Long strange story line with a few important details left toward the end. The strange little man with the strange name shows up suddenly to protect his daughter that he had believed dead for 17 years. Those 17 years were not fully explained but we are led to believe that he spent them atoning for a murder that he had committed wrongly young. He knew his wife was murdered by Indians along with his young daughter. Somehow the toddler escaped and was adopted by a wealthy rancher. Life should have been perfect for this perfect young lady except for the cruel son of the rancher that was a gambler,drunk, and theft. The rancher was to the point that he hid the imprisonment for 3 years of his son and became obsessed with the marriage between his adopted daughter to his son believing that a good wife would cure his son. She loved another and the son intentionally crippled and framed him for rustling to cover his own tracks. The mysterious stranger hid his relationship because the daughter felt that she owed the man that raised her to the point that she agrees to marry the son she despises and fears. A recommended book if you can get past the strange words and motives that remain hidden until the end.

Read it once and forgot I had read it. A forgettable book. Second time I realized I had read it before and did not finish it. Once is enough. But chapter IV has a very nice description of travel through the Colorado mountains. I liked Riders of the Purple Sage better.

It has been a long time since I've read a Zane Grey western. I forgot how his stories draw me a person in. The plot involves two different heroes and one loyal girl, but it it doesn't end the way one would expect.

Zane Grey's Novel, The Mysterious Rider, is typical of the Author. His heorine is indecisive leading to a great deal of pain for everyone involved. I like the fact that we know who the rider is, but my major problem is with Grey's repeating of himself. He could have told the story better with about half the words. But we should remember that he was writing for his audience, early twentieth century.

Wm V, Reynolds, author of "Murder on the Altamaha"

Zane grey makes you read this book.
He introduces a cowboy in despair about his love of many years. So you fall in love with this passionate yet self controled cowpuncher thats everything you could ever want in a man. And then...
So you have to finish it to learn what happened to Wilson Moore..
over a good read beautiful word pictures of wild west colorodo.