Good western romance. ( )

The abridged audio version gives this 1927 Western new life, because it is dramatized, being narrated with different actors for each character.

The story itself is standard western fare, but quite entertaining. Ben Ide has little interest in being a California rancher like his father, who is sure he will never amount to anything. But Ben loves horses, and pursues a herd of wild ones in hopes of capturing and breaking them to sell. When he and his partner Nevada are accused of being cattle thieves, they set out to capture the actual rustlers, who turn out to have friends in high places. In a related subplot, wealthy rancher Hart Blaine -- father of Ben's childhood sweetheart Ida -- is being cheated out of his land by the unscrupulous Les Setter. It's up to Ben and Nevada to clear their own names and set things aright, if Ben is to have any hope of marrying Ida.

Although abridged (170 minutes on two cassette tapes), the story is fully understandable. The dialogue is *very well done -- by actors with distinctive and memorable voices (ranging from the deep-voiced growl of one of the men to the lovely and melodious voice of young Ida Blaine. In one unfortunate feature of the presentation, the narration is given a constant "soundtrack" of synthesized music that swells with the action, and is pitched loud enough as to distract the reader and render some of the dialogue hard to hear (I eventually got used to the music enough to ignore it). Accompanying the story is an original song performed by hopeful country/ western performer Grant Landers. ( )

I've tried to read Zane Grey at various times and always found him dated and melodramatic. This time, the melodrama is still there, but I also found a riveting story. Ben Ide goes against his father's wishes and leaves their farm to hunt wild horses. While he's gone, stories begin to be told about his turning to rustling. When the girl he loves returns, Ben and his friends work to restore his reputation. ( )