The Master Executioner

NYT Bestselling author Harlen Coben says of Loren Estleman, "Loren Estleman is my hero," and Bestselling author John Lescroart calls him "The Stravinsky of hard-boiled prose..." Winner of multiple Spur, Western Heritage, and Stirrup awards, and a lifetime achievement award honoree by the Western Writers of America, Estleman is back with "The Master Executioner," a classic novel of the old west. 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.