This book was put on my radar by Cindy at @thoughtsfromapage. First off- the cover is just gorgeous and second, it’s set in Texas so… I’m sold. I live in Georgia now- but grew up in Texas- it’s where my and my husband’s parents and siblings live and it will always feel like home.

The entirety of this book is told in one voice. That voice is telling a story. I kept waiting for a shift in POV- but there wasn’t one. Once I realized that, I settled in and got absorbed in the story.

Set in the 1868, the plot involves a pregnant woman and her young son running from her husband and his outlaw brother-in-laws. I was taken back in time and was amazed at how well the author could describe the surroundings and people so well through a lone voice.

This book was like nothing I have read before- so I just loved that originality. The characters were vivid and I hated the ones I should despise, and loved the ones trying hard to do the right thing.

“…Benjamin Franklin noted thirteen moral virtues in his autobiography, one of them being resolution. He maintained how resolution requires being resolved to do what you aught, and then doing what you resolve. Resolve is what your mother done in that moment. No matter this nor that, she intended to see you was safe.”

I definitely recommend this immersive and at times tense book. Be ready to spend time in the vast Texas Hill Country.

Thank you to @netgalley and @littlebrown for the ARC to read and review.

The Madstone by Elizabeth Crook is an epic tale of an unexpected journey. The narrator is Benjamin Shreve, a 19 year old carpenter from Comfort, Texas. He becomes involved in the journey by giving a ride to a man who missed the stage and lost his baggage as a result.

On the stage are a pregnant woman and her young son, who are trying to get to New Orleans. He encounters several people who either help or hinder their progress.

This novel kept my interest throughout. The plot, characters, and setting are clearly delineated. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading historical fiction or western novels.

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley and am leaving this review voluntarily.

Very slow start - but a surprising well written book. It was difficult to read a book that was one long chapter - but after forcing myself to finish - I was glad that I did.

Well developed characters that were easy to like. A story that while hard to imagine could possibly be true. An old time western with a true Texas tilt.

This entire book is a letter to "Small Tot" from "Your friend evermore an no matter what, Benjamin Shreve." As promised in the synopsis, it is an exciting tale that will remind you of books like News of the World. Here are four things I loved about this title:

👍Benjamin Shreve is just twenty years of age. Still, he shows strength of character and resolve that will keep him in your heart for quite a long time.
👍The story unfolds in almost a cinematic quality. I was mesmerized as Benjamin and his companions persevered on their Texas journey from Comfort to Indianola.
👍Small Tot is such a trooper! He endures many a hardship alongside his mother.
👍I learned many new things about Texas and the world in that time including the use of "the Madstone."

👎While I really wanted to give this five stars, the format was not my favorite. There were no quotation marks -- understandable in an informal letter--or chapters to break up the flow. For my linear brain there was a lack of clarity. If the narrative had been separated by date headings, for example, it would have been easier to process.

If you are a Paulette Jiles fan, you will most definitely want to read this one. A big thank you to Little, Brown, and Company and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

Western set in a post-Civil War Texas, about a your man who witnesses a young woman “heavy with child” and her young boy stranded while trying to make it to the eastern coast of Texas for a boat to New Orleans. They woman and child are escaping her husband’s family who are outlaws, young Benjamin assists them, with the help of a treasure hunting wastrel adventurer and a Black/Seminole man. Benjamin falls in love with Nell and her son. Very good read and character development. I enjoyed the writing format and use of colloquial language as well as the phonetic spelling of names and place names that would have been common.

I loved this story! I read the Which Way Tree by Elizabeth Crook, so I was naturally interested in reading more of her work. I was pleasantly surprised to find that The Madstone followed one of the characters in her previous book.

Benjamin Shreve is a young carpenter living in Comfort, part of the Texas Hill Country. One day a stagecoach arrived and some drama ensues that leads Ben to offer to help one of the stagecoach passengers. What he thinks will be an afternoon good deed turns into several days of an adventure he would have never imagined.

A woman on the stagecoach is fleeing an outlaw husband and his gang of brothers who are part of the notorious Swamp Fox gang who are wanted for a multitude of crimes. She has her young son with her and is expecting another child in the near future.

Another passenger, Dickie, has found some buried treasure that he later learned may bring bad luck, but his greed won’t allow him to get rid of it, just in case it isn’t bad luck.

I don’t want to tell anymore about the story, except to say what a wonderful character Benjamin is in the story. Benjamin manages to make the right decisions regardless of the troubles that he faces with his new group of friends. He also finds love along the journey in the most unexpected way.

I love how Crook presents life in Texas during that time as very real, not sugarcoating the dangers of the Hill Country and the coastal region. Readers who love an adventure and a good western story will not want to pass this one up.

Many thanks to NetGally and Little, Brown and Company for allowing me to read an advance copy. I am happy to offer my honest review and look forward to reading more from Elizabeth Crook in the future.

I loved this book. Benjamin is the hero with a strong sense of loyalty and of what is right and what is wrong. It is written as a letter to a child telling the story of what happened on a trip, which is a quintessential western story. I was completely caught up in it. If you like stories about the west and stories about people, this is perfect for you.
I received this as an arc from NetGalley and am under no pressure for a positive review.

The Madstone by Elizabeth Crook has been compared to Lonesome Dove and News of the World. Set in Texas right after the Civil War. Nineteen-year-old Benjamin Shreve lives in Comfort, Texas where he is a carpenter. He witnesses some strange happenings when the stagecoach comes to town and is hired to take one of the passengers to meet the coach after the passenger has some problems with the sheriff. On their way, they come upon the stagecoach just as it is being robbed. One of the passengers is a young, pregnant mother who is trying to get to Indianola to escape an abusive husband. Nell has secrets of her own and their trip to Indianola is fraught with trials. I couldn't put this book down. Madstone is sure to become a great Texas novel. I appreciate Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Character-driven Western in the True Grit and Lonesome Dove vein.

Orphan Benjamin is making a living and his way in the world when his existence gets upended. Ben gets a chance to make some money by taking a stranger in trouble in his wagon to the man's destination. This sets up the scenario for the appearance of Nell Banes and her young son Tot and Ben's life is forever changed.

Nell is pregnant and desperate. Her husband and his brothers are cruel racist murdering outlaws, wanted by the authorities. Nell has escaped and they are hunting her down. Meanwhile some other interesting characters appear, a treasure hunter named Dickie and a part-Seminole traveler name Jorge. They form a loose band to protect Nell and try to get her to safety.

But they are up against some very bad men, not to mention nature: poisonous snakes, torrential rainstorms and more. These are wonderfully drawn characters beginning with Ben. He is a good man who tries to do the right thing. The narrative is in his reasonable voice, and it isn't long before he is smitten with Nell and Tot.

A fast-paced and action-filled read with lots of understatement and a poignant plot. Highly recommended. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Benjamin Shreve is a good man. He’s the kind of man who keeps his promises, no matter how much it inconveniences him. In The Madstone, by Elizabeth Crook, we see how much it costs Benjamin to keep a simple promise to take a man from one town to another. This time, a simple promise might cost Benjamin his life. It will definitely cost him his heart.

Benjamin lives a quiet life in the small town of Comfort, Texas, among the German settlers. He works as a carpenter and general handyman and seems to have no ambitions for anything more. We meet Benjamin on a day when something actually happens in Comfort: a man has been stranded by a stagecoach and no one will rent him a horse. As one of the few horse owners in town, Benjamin cuts a deal with the man, appropriately nicknamed Dickie, to deliver him to the next town down the line. All Benjamin expects at the end of this small job is a few dollars in return for his kindness. Little does he know that a simple trip down the road will soon turn into an epic race across the hot, dusty Texas landscape with a group of really violent men behind him.

Benjamin’s account takes the form of a very long letter to someone we only know as Tot, so that Tot can know more about where he came from. This little mystery gets a little lost over the course of the novel; it’s not until the very end that we learn just why Tot might need some stranger from the middle of nowhere Texas to tell him his past. Benjamin first meets Tot on the road from Comfort, with a grumbling Dickie, when the two men find the stagecoach Dickie was supposed to be on under attack from men clearly in disguise as Native Americans. Once the coach driver and passengers—Nell and Tot—are rescued, Benjamin finds himself cajoled into taking Dickie, Nell, and Tot on to San Antonio to try and get them to the next leg of their journey to the Texas coast. Each day sees Benjamin traveling further away from whatever was keeping him in Comfort.

Other little mysteries get swept away in Benjamin’s account of traveling across Texas. What is Dickie hiding in his luggage? Are his stories about treasure hunting true? Why are the stagecoaches in this place so poorly protected? Is Dickie cursed with bad luck? Instead of ruminating on these questions, Benjamin instead focuses on what caused a pregnant Nell to up stakes with Tot and light out on her own: her Klan in-laws. It’s a little frustrating to watch Benjamin consistently refuse to take tangents in his account. He’s definitely not the storyteller that Dickie is. But I found my annoyance waning as Benjamin began to fall in love with Nell and daydream about what it might be like to have a family, instead of living a lonely bachelor life.

The Madstone improves once we know more about what’s after Nell and Tot and the race to the Texas coast, where Nell and Tot can take a ship to New Orleans and safety, kicks off. More than once I had my heart in my mouth as the small party’s luck turned bad, allowing the Klansmen the chance to catch up. The tension was strong enough that I was mostly able to forget the fact that this plot was trailing more loose threads than a cheap pair of old jeans. I don’t want to knock this book too much. I really did enjoy the chase and the heroics. My quibble is that, once I reached the end of the book, I still had a lot of questions that were never really addressed satisfactorily. Consider this my caveat to an otherwise decent read.

Loved this book! Written as a letter, it didn’t take long for me to lose myself in protagonist Benjamin Shreve’s voice. And what an original voice! The story, set in 1868, centers on the journey Benjamin, a pregnant woman, her young son, a treasure hunter, and a Black Seminole take across the Texas hill country.

With horrible outlaws you love to hate and quirky tag-alongs you love to love, The Madstone is gentle yet compelling, quiet yet action-packed, sweet yet brutally honest. Crook skillfully develops every character with a freshness, avoiding stereotypes and creating a believable world.

It’s a western and a love story, but so much more. Kindness and sacrifice glow in the face of raw violence in both man and nature. The stakes couldn’t be higher, and the outcome is always uncertain. I wanted both to turn the pages at break-neck speed and slow down to savor every word.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown, and Company for an advanced reader’s copy.

This one sadly just wasn't for me. I got to around 30% and then decided to DNF since I wasn't invested in the characters or the story. I personally struggle with epistolary novels, and this one was written as a letter in first-person POV. If this doesn't bother you, then go for it! Just not to my personal taste.

The Madstone by Elizabeth Crook, coming out November 7, brings back Benjamin Shreve, the narrator of Crook’s 2018 title, The Which Way Tree. This time, he is writing a book-length letter to Small Tot, a 4-year-old boy, to be read when Tot reaches 19, the age Benjamin is when he puts this story down on paper in November of 1868.

In this work of historical fiction, Benjamin, a carpenter by trade in Comfort, Texas, encounters a pregnant woman named Nell Banes and her son Henry, called Tot, when a stagecoach stops in his town. The pair are running away from Texas to avoid revenge-seeking outlaws who are hot on their trail. Benjamin selflessly does everything he can to help Nell and Tot, at the same time, falling in love with them both.

Turns out Nell reported to the Freedmen’s Bureau the whereabouts of the gang of the Swamp Fox of the Sulfur, a group that has been harassing and committing acts of violence toward black people. Now she and Tot are on the run toward Indianola to board a ship to New Orleans to live with a cousin.

The route to safety is wrought with obstacles including Tot being bitten by a rabid coyote who he thought was a dog. It is said the madstone, a special medicinal substance that when soaked in milk will cure rabies, so Benjamin must head out to the nearest towns to try to find one. This hitch in the plans brings the outlaws that much closer and the escape that much out of reach.

Elizabeth Crook is an American novelist who specializes in historical fiction, in particular the Western. She has written seven novels, including The Night Journal, which received The Spur Award from Western Writers of America. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her family.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting October 9, 2023.

I would like to thank Little, Brown and Company and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

The Madstone is the story of an unassuming carpenter, Benjamin Shreve, whose good intentions get him involved in a stagecoach robbery, a treasure hunt, and a pregnant mother's quest to flee a racist vigilante gang. Luckily, Benjamin's solid character means he is up for the task, and willing to help everyone who crosses his path, even if their annoying personal habits make for exasperating, if hilarious travel stories. This exciting and engaging Western will delight fans of True Grit and News of the World.

"The Madstone" by Elizabeth Crook is a captivating historical novel set in Texas in 1868. It weaves a tale of danger, love, and redemption against the backdrop of the American frontier.

The story introduces us to Benjamin Shreve, a skilled tradesman who becomes an unexpected hero when he stumbles upon a stranded stagecoach and its mysterious passengers. Among them is Nell, a pregnant young woman, and her four-year-old son, Tot, who are desperately fleeing from Nell's abusive husband and his dangerous brothers. Benjamin, moved by compassion and a sense of duty, offers to help them find safety by taking them to the Gulf of Mexico.

What follows is a thrilling and perilous journey, as Benjamin, Nell, and Tot navigate the treacherous terrain of Texas, with vengeful pursuers hot on their heels. As Benjamin grows closer to Nell and forms a bond with Tot, the novel explores themes of love, family, and sacrifice. Crook skillfully brings her characters to life, making them relatable and endearing to readers.

The narrative is richly textured, with a blend of action, danger, and moments of droll humor. Crook's prose is evocative, transporting readers to the rugged landscapes of Texas and immersing them in the challenges and adventures faced by the characters.

One of the novel's strengths is its portrayal of the American frontier during a turbulent period in history. It captures the essence of the time, with all its hardships and the resilience of those who lived there. The addition of a cursed necklace and buried secrets adds an element of mystery and intrigue to the story, keeping readers engaged throughout.

"The Madstone" is a beautifully rendered historical novel that evokes the spirit of the American West. It combines thrilling action with heartfelt emotion, making it a compelling and memorable read. Elizabeth Crook's storytelling prowess shines through in this tale of bravery, love, and the enduring bonds that form in the face of adversity.

The Madstone is book that pulls you in with a unique narrative voice and sly humor. It quickly grabs you with eye-popping adventure and a setting so real, you'll want to pick up a broom and sweep that cabin. When you reach the end of this curious and intriguing tale, you'll wish for a sequel and begin a search for other books by this talented author. Kudos to Elizabeth Crook!

Absolutely unputdownable story of strangers coming together to make a family.. This narrative arc across Texas "back in the day" is beautifully told - brutal violence, but also compassionate kindness. I loved this story of family loyalty and love found. I also like the way that you don't learn about the significance of the title until the narrative unfolds. So well written.

The novel is a letter written from Comfort, Texas, in the year 1868, addressed to Small Tot. The letter’s purpose is to recount recent events so that the child may understand what happened. It is interesting to note that the letter is meant to be read by the child once he’s grown. The following is a brief synopsis of the events that form the adventure’s basic frame.

Benjamin Shreve is working at his carpentry shop when the Ficklin mail coach makes a stop in Comfort to change mules. While the mules are changed, Benjamin sees Tot and his mother, who do not descend to take a break from riding in the coach. Benjamin observes one of the coach passengers get out to use the two-seater privy, but the sheriff has use of it, and despite his pleas and banging on the door in an effort to make use of the second seat, the sheriff won’t unlatch the door so the desperate passenger has to do his deed next to the wall. The sheriff exits the privy and arrests the traveler for lewd behavior and profanity, the traveler pleading and begging to be let off, that he has his bags and rifle aboard the coach and needs to get to San Antonio. The traveler is taken to the sheriff’s office, and the stable boy is to get the man’s bags for him before the coach departs.

About a half an hour later, Benjamin observes a new traveler coming into town and on the lookout for a new mount so he can get on his way wherever he’s going. Even though Benjamin has an old mare, he won’t offer her up, as he gets the impression this new traveler would misuse her. After searching about in haste without luck, the man departs on the lathered horse headed in the same direction as the coach.

The first traveler, whom we soon learn is named Dickie, is upset by the fact that the stable boy did not retrieve a second bag from the coach. Dickie is desperate to get it back, but can’t get a horse to follow the coach. Benjamin is persuaded with ready money to take Dickie by wagon to Boerne to look for a horse to let.

On the way to Boerne, Benjamin learns that Dickie is a treasure hunter, and has made his way to far places to search for silver and gold. The two men come across the 2nd traveler, who has been robbed, beaten and left barefoot on the road. The man remembers that Benjamin told him he had no horse to let, and gives Benjamin an earful before he accepts their help to transport him to Boerne. According to him, he was stopped by a gang of men dressed as Indians. The group then come across the robbery of the Ficklin mail coach by what seems to be the same gang of impostors. The three take care to stay out of eyeshot, and watch as a new band of masked horsemen accost the impostors for taking gains off their turf. They seem to know each other; in the ensuing discussion, the Tot and his mother, whom we learn later is named Nell, are redirected to the coach, as the robbers don’t harm women and children. Moreover, they return Dickie’s bag to her, assuming it to be a woman’s purse. After a brief argument with gunfire, the gangs pack up and ride off with the rest of their spoils as well as the 2nd traveler’s stolen mount and the Ficklin mules.

The three men head down into the wash to check on the driver and passengers; to Benjamin’s surprise, the 2nd traveler makes for the coach and throws the door open, and Tot’s mother shoots him in the face. The very pregnant woman who emerges from the coach with Tot claims it was an accident done in self-defense. The coach driver wants to leave the body for varmints to take care of, but the woman convinces the men that she’d like to see him decently buried. Now Benjamin’s wagon is loaded with himself, a dead man, the coach driver, Dickie, the pregnant woman and her child, and they are all in a hurry to reach Boerne and ultimately, San Antonio.

The reader soon learns that Nell knew the man, and shot him out of fear. He was her husband, Micah, a scoundrel who, along with his dastardly brothers, formed part of the notorious Cullen Baker’s Swamp Fox gang, and she expected them to find her and punish her for telling the Freedman’s Bureau of their crimes against recently emancipated slaves and freemen. Nell has rid the world of Micah, but Micah’s brothers will be hunting her down, so Benjamin agrees to get Nell and Tot safely away for Indianola and thence to New Orleans. From here on out, the tale is filled with this mishap and that – carrying Benjamin and his various companions on an amazing, dangerous, hair-raising adventure.

I appreciate a good journey in the vein of News of the World, True Grit or The Sisters Brothers. Due to the nature of the narrative, the reader is taken up into the story as if personally addressed. Benjamin conducts the telling of the tale as if in conversation with Tot. I don’t know if the author meant to transport the reader into the 19-year-old Tot’s shoes or to present the letter to the reader as a historical document– it certainly makes an impact to realize that you, the reader, are reading a document that has been carefully preserved for over 150 years. Either way, the effect allows the reader to enter more thoroughly into the story’s events.

The other thing I loved about this book is that, like those mentioned above, the author is a meticulous historical fiction writer, crafting her story around innumerable historical details of dress, location, language, etc. Thank you, Elizabeth Crook!

Advisory for my teen readers: violence, murder, descriptions of violent anti-racial acts by villains

Thank you, Little, Brown and Company and NetGalley, for granting me a copy of this book for review. Any opinions are my own; I’m not receiving any kind of douceur for my write-up.

Thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown, and Company for access to this title. I am auto-approved with this publisher

Once again, I appear to be on an outlier island. I found this book really difficult to stay invested in because it was written in the first-person perspective as a letter. The characters never felt real to me. Days later, there isn't much I can recall about the book either.

A real miss for me.


Expected Publication 07/11/23
Goodreads Review Published 24/09/23
#TheMadstone #NetGalley.

In a small Texas town a man who tries to stay away from danger and drama gets pulled into a family feud. He undertakes a journey to help a pregnant woman and her son flee an abusive husband and family. In doing so he himself finds purpose, friendship, love and family. This is the morality of Don Quixote meets great characters of NEWS OF THE WORLD. Written in authentic language with a clear balance of chivalry and violence of post Civil War Texas this makes Elizabeth Crook one of the Western.greats. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.