Jesse James' Secret is the story a quest. The story of the author searching not only for treasure but for the the truth of the circumstances of Jesse James' death.

The book lists two persons as the authors. The main one would appear to be Ron Pastore who appears to be a controversial figure to his one time allies, the James family. Beyond this you may search the internet and form your own opinion.

The book itself is fairly well written and reads as the adventure story it is suppose to be. It traces how
the main character, Mr. Pastore, quite literally stumbled across the object of so much research on his part. He details the process from which derived his conclusions along with a few of the pertinent documents along with details of his personal life and dealings with various individuals along the way.

He discusses, I believe there have been three, TV documentaries on Jesse. Let say here that I have seen none of them at this point, so I will have to go with what author says of them. The first was an investigation of the DNA evidence of the person buried in the traditional grave in Missouri which the author dismisses as proving nothing essentially. The second was instigated by Mr. Pastore in conjunction with Bill Kurtis of the History Channel. However despite the writer's best intentions he was very dissatisfied with the results, the direction which Mr. Kurtis took on the subject. I can comment very little on the third as he doesn't really provide much info on it.

I think that I can recommend this book, if for no other reason, in that it presents another view of the the life and death of one one the U.S.A. iconic characters know the world over. ( )

Codes Cover-Ups and Hidden Treasures, that's the subtitle of Jesse James' Secret. Add to that mystery, murder and conspiracy and you have Jesse James' Secret. Lots of information, photographs and maps. If you like Jesse James this might be the book for you. ( )

The notorious outlaw, Jesse James did not die in April of 1882 as we have been led to believe by history; or so author Ron Pastore would have us believe. He has done over a decade of research attempting to prove that history is either outright wrong or that we have been deliberately deceived. Ron tends to believe the latter, and in this book, puts forth what he has learned about the life and death of Jesse James. Greatly complicating matters, three distinctly different men of approximately the same age were using the name Jesse James. Genealogical research proves that the three men were cousins. There is much information contained in 15 appendices at the back of the book, some of which is helpful and some merely confusing.

While interesting and easy to read, Jesse James' Secret is not as detailed as I had hoped for and the glimpses of evidence provided by the authors are not very convincing - until you get to the photographs. With keen observational skills the photographs of Jesse James can be divided into three groups; each group of photos matches the description of a different one of the three cousins. If the photos can be believed at all, I'm pretty sure I know who died in 1882...

There are a few typographical errors in this book, though it is not riddled with such errors as are other books I've read, however, much of the content doesn't seem to belong in a book about Jesse James. There is some confusing information about the Knights of the Golden Circle and other information about codes written on cave walls and massive amounts of buried treasure - the ill-gotten proceeds of the many robberies committed by the James gang. Some of the information is loosely tied together, some just doesn't seem as if it belongs at all.

If you're interested in non-fiction books about the old west and want to read for entertainment, then you might like this book. If you're looking for a book that covers the topic in depth, or in a more scholarly fashion, then this isn't the book for you.

Above review is based on the trade paperback edition provided to me free by the publisher. ( )

Just a so-so book. This came across as a conspiracy type book in the same vein as Da Vinci Code as one other reviewer stated. I found too that this would have made a much better fiction novel than non-fiction if written in a different manner. But being non-fiction it was interesting but it seemed that it lacked the facts, sources and evidence to support a serious attempt at proving anything. Could have been a fun "novel", but as a work of non-fiction, not so much. ( )

I have to admit that I felt a certain piqued interest in this book when I first saw it offered for review. New evidence of historical value concerning Jesse James presented with a compelling argument and firm historical research was an exciting thought. The reality, however, was far from the promise I imagined. After reading through the first six or seven chapters my interest gave way to incredulousness and yes, a bit of annoyance. The term Genealogy bug, or the passion for family tree research, came to my mind as I continued reading. Pastore, while quite enthusiastic about the subject and invested in ways ill-defined, provides very little solid evidence to prove his hypothesis which is exactly the trap that many novice genealogist fall into. In plain terms, I don’t think there’s anything new or relevant presented here to change anyone’s mind. As such I’d have to categorize Jesse James’ Secret as pseudo-history at best with an emphasis on the word “pseudo.”

Historical research aside the book itself suffers on many other levels, as well. There is an obvious overuse of idiom and cliché. While I would probably be quite happy to find my way out of a cave after hours of being lost I certainly wouldn’t “kiss the ground” when I did. This was the most blatant and tedious cliché that I found but there are many others and they distracted from the message. That alone made me close this book well before I reached the halfway point. I remember thinking that the author presented the information in this book not so much as to illuminate the reader on a new theory or hypothesis but to win an argument with someone who disagreed with his notions. And while there may have been new information here, in the end, it was presented in such a way as to leave me confused over the point.
Did Jesse James fake his own death? Possibly. Did Jesse James and gang hide treasure in the caves of Missouri and Kansas? Probably. But this book does not present any evidence to support either theory.

2 1/2 out of 5 stars
The Alternative
Southeast Wisconsin ( )