A ghost seeking revenge, a man trying to reclaim his life and the descendants of the people who humiliated the ghost in the 1800 all converge on the depot. This is one of those books I caution you to not start an hour before bedtime or you may find yourself spending the night awake reading. A well-written action packed tale of a revenge that will not quit. Great read.

This was such a fun read. It's been ages since I read a good ghost story. I loved the setting of Comanche although I'm not sure I'd like to live there. It was well drawn with it's heat, humidity, and lots of delicious iced tea. I loved the characters - the two main ones Darrell and Raymond, who are best friends and private investigators from New Orleans; and spiritualist Betsy and professor Jake who go along to help solve a murder and a mystery and get more than they bargained for.
As I said, this was fun to read. The author doesn't use speech punctuation marks and it took me a couple of pages to settle into this way of reading, but I did and it wasn't a problem. I could really hear the characters talking with their Southern accents.

Gunslinging murder mystery supernatural thriller. What?? All that. Comanche by Brett Riley has a lot of genres mixed in but it works well.

When selecting this book, I hadn't appreciated that it was a supernatural thriller, which is not normally a go-to genre for me. However, this book was well-written with a good dose of suspense and action/adventure such that I actually questioned whether it was a ghost story of not.

Despite my initial reaction, I really enjoyed the story and would happily read further books based on the agency characters.

Like a good gumbo, COMANCHE, Brett Riley’s debut novel, is a wonderful mix of ingredients. It’s a throwback to violent, strange westerns like High Plains Drifter, it’s a southern gothic horror dripping with tension and grit and it’s a compelling drama driven by a sprawling cast of characters that would make Stephen King proud.

The small Texas town Comanche is rocked by a double murder outside of a newly built Diner. Witnesses say the killer was dressed as a gunslinger. Some say it’s the ghost of The Piney Woods Killer, a bandit from the 18th century, back for revenge, disturbed by the new building over his death site. But is this true or is something else at play?

COMANCHE had me at ghosts and grit, small towns and outsiders, murder and mystery but what really works here is Brett Riley’s prose. I really enjoyed the execution of the story. Sometimes you get a novel that’s wordier then it needs to be or one that drags its feet to set up characters and events- Riley’s style is all thriller, no filler. It’s lean and mean and to the point. Not a word is wasted in the breath-taking fast pace. Some points - moods, character descriptions, are repeated a bit here or there or plain strange even from a POV, but other than this, it’s economic storytelling.

Its a breezy read, speeding by set-piece by set-piece, and while it doesn’t necessarily bring anything new to the genre, it establishes itself as being a solid genre piece that delivers on the thrills and violence that could satiate a horror fan.

Given its sprawling cast, I do wish that there was more time spent with some characters so that the stakes felt a bit higher. As it is, a death, say, doesn’t have much of an impact on me because I don’t particularly feel any ties to the characters. I’m more along for the ride, which delivers on its fun.

That being said, COMANCHE is a tasty southern dish that goes down nicely and sets up Brett Riley as one to watch.

3.5 stars

A Modern Day Western ghost story.

Two good ol' boy private detectives from New Orleans, accompanied by a psychic fortune teller, travel to the small town of Comanche, Texas to investigate stories of a vengeful ghost.

The Piney Woods Kid was a ruthless murdering outlaw from the Old West who met a gruesome end at the hands of a brutal posse from Comanche, Texas. Fast forward to modern day Comanche where the descendants of that posse are being systematically murdered by a bizarre figure that witnesses describe as the ghost of The Piney Woods Kid.

Is it really a ghost? Is it some kind of bizarre publicity stunt gone wrong? It will take two hard headed P.I.s from New Orleans and their psychic side-kick to sort it out... Despite the objections of the mayor and many of the local citizens.

Lots of fun banter, good character development, told in a serious country noir kind of style.

I didn't like the author's choice not to use any quotation marks to set off the characters speech. While it's not a major issue in short stories when it comes to a full length novel told in the third person it can get a bit confusing as to who is speaking. It made it difficult for me to really "get lost" in the story.

Comanche by Brett Riley has aspects of Ghostbusters, Jaws (the small town mayor who fears scandal will ruin tourism), with maybe a touch of The Dukes of Hazzard (no car chases, though).

I think fans of some of Joe R. Lansdale's more off-beat genre stuff might like this one. Not because of writing style so much as it has that same kind of alternate reality context.

***Thanks to NetGalley, Imbrifex publishing, and author Brett Riley for providing me with a free digital copy of this title in exchange for an honest review

Comanche is a murder mystery, a gun-slinging western and a ghost story all rolled into one. Raymond Turner is a successful private investigator who has developed a serious drinking habit since losing his wife. The only thing that might save him is the need to help his sister before she loses her husband and her son. Comanche is the first novel by screenplay and short story author Brett Riley.

Raymond Turner only wants to drink and forget. His partner Darrell LeBlanc tries everything to break Raymond out of his downward spiral before their business is ruined. Nothing works until two people are killed at his sister Rennie’s diner and she asks for his help. The most urgent part is that the rumor is that a ghost did it and he (or it) has more people on his list, including Rennie’s husband and her son.

The story is set up extremely well. The first chapter gives the historical background. Then we move to modern day and the murders take place. Being a small town everyone starts a rumour. It makes sense to call in out side help and Rennie’s brother is a private investigator. The tension builds rapidly from there. I suspect I could listen to Riley tell stories around a campfire all night long.

The characters are very well developed. Raymond is a initially a loser but smart enough to have potential. Darrell is his childhood friend and protector. Their relationship is tight and consistent throughout the novel. My favorite character is Rourke, Raymond’s brother-in-law. He hates Raymond because he expects him to screw up and hurt Rennie. He also doesn’t want Raymond to hurt the town’s reputation. I think he is a great character because he has all the right intentions but can’t help but be a jerk. All the other characters are developed enough that if and when they get hurt the reader is invested enough to be shocked and even sad.

<i> Comanche </i> is a murder mystery, a gun-slinging western and a ghost story all rolled into one. Raymond Turner is a successful private investigator who has developed a serious drinking habit since losing his wife. The only thing that might save him is the need to help his sister before she loses her husband and her son. <i> Comanche </i> is the first novel by screenplay and short story author Brett Riley.

Raymond Turner only wants to drink and forget. His partner Darrell LeBlanc tries everything to break Raymond out of his downward spiral before their business is ruined. Nothing works until two people are killed at his sister Rennie’s diner and she asks for his help. The most urgent part is that the rumor is that a ghost did it and he (or it) has more people on his list, including Rennie’s husband and her son.

The story is set up extremely well. The first chapter gives the historical background. Then we move to modern day and the murders take place. Being a small town everyone starts a rumour. It makes sense to call in out side help and Rennie’s brother is a private investigator. The tension builds rapidly from there. I suspect I could listen to Riley tell stories around a campfire all night long.

The characters are very well developed. Raymond is a initially a loser but smart enough to have potential. Darrell is his childhood friend and protector. Their relationship is tight and consistent throughout the novel. My favorite character is Rourke, Raymond’s brother-in-law. He hates Raymond because he expects him to screw up and hurt Rennie. He also doesn’t want Raymond to hurt the town’s reputation. I think he is a great character because he has all the right intentions but can’t help but be a jerk. All the other characters are developed enough that if and when they get hurt the reader is invested enough to be shocked and even sad.

I know fundamentally that this story couldn’t take place but it is done in such a way that I almost believe it. I even sympathise with the murderer. What happens to him shouldn’t happen to anyone and revenge almost makes sense.

Finally, I have never been to this part of Texas but now I want to go. The countryside sounds like it is beautiful and the people are strong enough to live and die for each other. Hopefully the number of shotguns available is exaggerated!!

I highly recommend this book to those like fast paced action packed novels. I give it a 5 on 5. I want to thank Net Galley and Imbrifex Books for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

This was an okay read but nothing to get really excited about. The concept was interesting but the writing could have been more interesting. A solid 4 from me.