Ghosts, bandits & legends of old Monterey ... Carmel, and surrounding areas

by Randall A. Reinstedt

the book documents many of the area's most mysterious happenings.

Genres: Mystery

48 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1995

Reviews

[morgan ☽ · Rating 2 out of 5]

This could have been really interesting, but so much of this is just the author starting a story and then saying if you want the full story to check out his other books. Which is super annoying.

[Just Jenny · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dated style of writing by a guy who glosses over racial atrocities and rape as if California was built in a Disney level western/ seaside world. All the stories that had any meat were just used as a taster to promote several of his other books, which he mentions in dozens of annoying footnotes. I will be looking for those old mines tho...

[Brannigan · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was disappointing. I get a kick out of buying local ghost story books when on vacation some are bad like this one and some are amazing. The chapters are very brief and don’t ever give you a lot of information or even several examples. Very one note. Pick a different one.

[Nick · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am always looking for good books of stories from regions large and small. It can be a lot of fun to learn the stories of a place, whether it's the factual history or the folklore and ghost tales. I had hoped for a good experience with this book, which touted a delightful mix of history and ghost lore. It was only partly worth my time and money.
While the book interesting, I was greatly disappointed by the format. Most chapters were only sketchy overviews of tales about a subject or area, combined with reasons why you should buy one or more of the author's other books to get a more complete version of the story. I began to realize that each of these sources might do the same thing, making the whole exercise into a Marx Brothers routine.
Seriously, I might read another of his books, but I would prefer to never spend another dime on them, just to keep from rewarding such an authorial pyramid scheme.

[Andres Ramirez · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fun, light read that I purchased while waiting for a bus to San Francisco from Monterey. The tidbits of history he shares are fun, but I wish he delved into the ghost stories in a less dry tone. He simply presents stories and doesn't seem to try to set any sort of mood. I am interested in picking up one of his other books, in which he delves more into ghost stories.