The Madstone

A Novel

By: Elizabeth Crook

Narrated by: Will Collyer

With echoes of Lonesome Dove and News of the World, the riveting story of a pregnant young mother, her child, and the frontier tradesman who helps them flee across Texas from outlaws bent on revenge, even as an unlikely love blossoms.

Texas, 1868. As nineteen-year-old Benjamin Shreve tends to business in his workshop, he witnesses a stagecoach strand a passenger. When the man persuades Benjamin to help track down the vanished coach—and a mysterious fortune left aboard—he is drawn into a drama whose scope he could never have imagined.

The missing coach has a surprise in store: its other passengers include Nell, a pregnant young woman, and her four-year-old son, Tot, who are on the run from Nell’s brutal husband and his murderous brothers. After learning of their plight, Benjamin offers Nell and Tot passage to the distant Gulf of Mexico, where they can escape to safety. This chivalrous act will prove more dangerous than he could have expected, as buried secrets—including a cursed necklace—reveal themselves.

Even as Benjamin falls in love with Nell and imagines life as Tot’s father, vengeful pursuers are on their trail. With its vivid characters and expansive canvas, The Madstone calls to mind Larry McMurtry’s American epics. The novel is full of eccentric action, unrelenting peril, and droll humor—a thrilling and beautifully rendered story of three people sharing a hazardous and defining journey that will forever bind them together.

©2023 Elizabeth Crook (P)2023 Little, Brown & Company

Critic reviews

“The Madstone is a treasure: a brilliant, beautiful page-turner of a book. Elizabeth Crook has reimagined the Western, giving us a poignant love story and a riveting road novel. I devoured it—and you will, too.” (Chris Bohjalian, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Double Bind and The Flight Attendant)

“Elizabeth Crook is a magician of a novelist, bringing the past to life with a tale of epic proportions that must be read to be believed. The voice of Benjamin Shreve stands alone in recent fiction, and all of Crook’s characters linger long after you’ve finished reading. The Madstone is a marvel.” (Nathan Harris, New York Times bestselling author of The Sweetness of Water)

Highly enjoyable tale of a young man's Journey in post Civil War Texas

Great story telling about a young cabinet-maker who decides to help a pregnant woman and her young son travel by horse drawn wagon through Texas to the Gulf of Mexico to escape murderous pursuers of the Swamp Fox. A realistic, sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking book of hardships and the human spirit.

An entertaining western yarn and a coming of age and first love story

It was well written and the narrator did a great job as well. I enjoyed it.

A thoroughly engrossing book based in historical record of post Civil War times in Texas 

Beautifully drawn characters, a thoroughly engaging and exciting plot, and historical fiction. I felt like I glimpsed what life might have been like at this time, and in this place, It’s amazing anyone survived it. I really did not want this book to end. Loved the personality of the main character, Excellent narration. Extremely well written, and researched.

The characters. But the reader was also excellent and gave The Madstone a « good voice ».

love the language/vernacular used, which seemed in keeping with Benjamin’s time and learning. I also liked its format as a written missive to Tot from Benjamin. Readers should first read The Which Way Tree for an even fuller enjoyment of the main character and his rambunctious earlier adventures.

Great fun

In the tradition of "Lonesome Dove," "True Grit," and "News of the World." It's a fun story that's perfect for listening to. Definitely takes you away from the world.

Entertaining and informative

Great narrator, interesting story, keep my attention at every turn. The author’s command of the language and grammar of the time period was remarkable. One of the best books I’ve read lately.

Best Audiobook Reading Ever

Everything about this book is extraordinary - the story, the well-defined characters, the locations all deserve praise. What stands out, though, is the performance by Will Collyer. I have never before been so consistently moved, engaged, and enthralled as I was by the way he inhabits the characters in this novel. An amazing winning combo - an excellent novel, read perfectly, with heart and emotion.

Texas History Brought to Life

Great storytelling with broken English throughout. Authentic feel and easy to follow. Worth the read!

Outstanding

A wonderfully researched and written tale. The reader is drawn in immediately and becomes complete vested in the characters. Can’t wait for the author’s next book!

A solid Texas hillcountry western

Some perspective-My favorite books in this genre are Lonesome Dove, The Son, and Cold Mountain (I know it's not geographically a western). I really enjoyed The Madstone.
It is not full of larger-than-life characters. It features regular people experiencing difficult circumstances in a historical context. The character development is thorough and very well done.