The Mark of Zorro

by Johnston McCulley

Genres: Classics
Pages: 265
Rating:

Synopsis:

Here begins the legend of Zorro. Spanish Southern California struggles under the governor’s tyrannical grip. Missions are raided and innocent peasants are abused and persecuted. But from the desert a savior arises. A masked man named Zorro, or desert fox, rides at night taking revenge on those who would harm the common man. His deadly marksmanship and flashing sword quickly become legendary.

I’d never read Johnston McCulley’s The Mark of Zorro, so when I was looking for a bit of a break from classic detective fiction on Serial Reader, I picked it more or less at random. It mostly struck me how very much of a Robin Hood story it is, really — transformed to a totally different setting, I’ll grant you, but a lot of the characteristics are there.

The “twist” was very obvious and I assume it was supposed to be, but I always find that sort of thing frustrating.

As a whole, it’s not unenjoyable, with all the usual caveats about when it was written and by whom, lending it a certain perspective and a certain way of regarding people and things. I can’t say I was reading particularly critically, though, more with an eye to understanding something iconic (particularly given there’s a character in the game Persona 5 who uses ‘Zorro’ as his persona) and getting context I didn’t have.

Rating: 3/5