Zane Grey Boxed Set: Volume 2

By: Zane Grey

Narrated by: Al Kessel, Brian Grey, Jim Roberts

Zane Grey is considered the first and, by many, the best author of "Western" novels. This second volume contains four of his most popular novels, The Valley of Wild Horses, The Last Trail, The Rustlers of Pecos County and The Lone Star Ranger.

Public Domain (P)2023 Jimcin Recordings

Four wonderful stories

Sadly, the last two are narrated by Jim Roberts(?). No disrespect to him, but his thick New England accent almost ruined it for me. Fortunately, I had already listened to West of the Pecos. Sadly though, I spent the credit to hear the Lone Star Ranger. His inability to sound like anything other than a New Englander made parts of the story difficult. Rune, instead of ruin. Gawge, instead of gorge. Rivahh instead of river are just a small sample of vocal intonations that a Texan would never utter. It was irritating and made the story hard to get through. He sounded at times like Elmer Fudd and at times like Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting. He has zero business narrating an American western. He has zero voice acting skill so far as westerns go. I’m sure he’s okay reading Dickens or the like, but he’s a total failure here. The 2 stars for performance are there because the 2 other that narrators sounded mid-western when they weren’t doing excellent western dialects. I will avoid his narrations should I continue along the Zane Grey trail.