Page Count:  329

Author:  Zane Grey

Publisher:  Harper

ISBN:  0-06-100920-2

Category:  Western

Genre:  Drama

Dove's (Personal) Review:  After reading "The Rainbow Trail," I had to give Zane Grey a second chance to win me over. So, I tried "The Vanishing American" with hopes of becoming a Grey fan. My second attempt didn't help much.
     Grey's writing abilites are wonderful. He's very descriptive, his characters are well formed, and the story/plot(s) fall in place nicely. However, there's just something missing from his work, and it fails to "grab me" as a reader. As with the first book I read, half way through this one, I just didn't care about any of it. It made no difference to me whether or not I finished the story. I can't quite put my finger on what exactly the problem is.
     Even though the characters are well developed, they lack a level of realism I've come to expect in a "great Western novel." They don't become "real" people in my imagination as I'm reading the story. They're nothing more than "words on a page," and when I don't feel any kind of a personal connection with the characters I'm reading about, I lose interest in the story.
     In all honesty, I did enjoy this book more than "The Rainbow Bridge," but that's not saying much. This one included more action, and the subject matter was more appealing to me, but Grey - apparently - just isn't an author that holds my interest.
     If I was to rate this book on a scale from one to ten (ten being the best), I'd have to give this a five, being nothing better than average.