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robelloreads's review against another edition
3.0
This book wasn't quite a mystery, but it was an enjoyable thriller! It was a very quick read for me and I enjoyed almost every minute. It definitely had a few bumps along the way, but it was a solid read for me. I am typically not a big fan of 'ghost hunter' type stories, but the plot of this really pulled me in and kept my attention!
Some characters left me longing to know more about them, which is both good and bad. Others I felt like had little purpose being in the story. For example LeBlanc and his backstory was really unexplored, yet his was a primary supporting character for Raymond. I really had the desire to know more about LeBlanc, so I could connect on a deeper level emotionally, but I was left with little to hold on to... which resulted in me caring very little for the events impacting him or his feelings about the other characters (which was critical to one of the smaller romance events sadly!).
The plot was fast paced, but I felt like the later half of the book was a repeating event as they tried and failed during the conflict over and over. Don't get me wrong, I loved the plot overall, but at the end I was just getting exhausted. I am not sure if it is because the fast events never had a slow down, or if it was because the final show downs took multiple tries with the protagonist, but I had a hard time staying with it at the end. Additionally, in hindsight I really wished I wouldn't have known from Chapter 1 that the ghost was real... I wish I could have been bouncing back and forth within the theories the agency had all along the way with them.. instead I just felt like I kept having a sense of "hurry up and realize the ghost is real, lets go!". With all that said, the ending itself landed for me, it was rough in some ways, but it landed and felt complete.
Action scenes were hard for me to keep up with as it was difficult to envision how things were playing out around the diner and Dead House locations with the multitude of characters on site and multiple shifting perspectives. I read a lot of large fantasy epics, so shifting perspectives isn't new to me, but something about the writing for this felt like the perspective shifts during the major action sequences was jarring and left me having to back up and obtain my barring's again before continuing to read at times.
I am honestly really excited to see how this authors writing evolves and improves as he continues to publish more books in the future - I will be keeping my eye out for sure! This was quite an adventure of a story and is something I am glad to have had the opportunity to read. If I had one ask, beside the change with chapter 1, it would be to have the book be a little longer with a slow spot in the middle to explore some of the backgrounds on key characters such as LeBlanc so I could connect with them before the events of the second half of the book.
Some characters left me longing to know more about them, which is both good and bad. Others I felt like had little purpose being in the story. For example LeBlanc and his backstory was really unexplored, yet his was a primary supporting character for Raymond. I really had the desire to know more about LeBlanc, so I could connect on a deeper level emotionally, but I was left with little to hold on to... which resulted in me caring very little for the events impacting him or his feelings about the other characters (which was critical to one of the smaller romance events sadly!).
The plot was fast paced, but I felt like the later half of the book was a repeating event as they tried and failed during the conflict over and over. Don't get me wrong, I loved the plot overall, but at the end I was just getting exhausted. I am not sure if it is because the fast events never had a slow down, or if it was because the final show downs took multiple tries with the protagonist, but I had a hard time staying with it at the end. Additionally, in hindsight I really wished I wouldn't have known from Chapter 1 that the ghost was real... I wish I could have been bouncing back and forth within the theories the agency had all along the way with them.. instead I just felt like I kept having a sense of "hurry up and realize the ghost is real, lets go!". With all that said, the ending itself landed for me, it was rough in some ways, but it landed and felt complete.
Action scenes were hard for me to keep up with as it was difficult to envision how things were playing out around the diner and Dead House locations with the multitude of characters on site and multiple shifting perspectives. I read a lot of large fantasy epics, so shifting perspectives isn't new to me, but something about the writing for this felt like the perspective shifts during the major action sequences was jarring and left me having to back up and obtain my barring's again before continuing to read at times.
I am honestly really excited to see how this authors writing evolves and improves as he continues to publish more books in the future - I will be keeping my eye out for sure! This was quite an adventure of a story and is something I am glad to have had the opportunity to read. If I had one ask, beside the change with chapter 1, it would be to have the book be a little longer with a slow spot in the middle to explore some of the backgrounds on key characters such as LeBlanc so I could connect with them before the events of the second half of the book.
robelloreads's review
3.0
This book wasn't quite a mystery, but it was an enjoyable thriller! It was a very quick read for me and I enjoyed almost every minute. It definitely had a few bumps along the way, but it was a solid read for me. I am typically not a big fan of 'ghost hunter' type stories, but the plot of this really pulled me in and kept my attention!
Some characters left me longing to know more about them, which is both good and bad. Others I felt like had little purpose being in the story. For example LeBlanc and his backstory was really unexplored, yet his was a primary supporting character for Raymond. I really had the desire to know more about LeBlanc, so I could connect on a deeper level emotionally, but I was left with little to hold on to... which resulted in me caring very little for the events impacting him or his feelings about the other characters (which was critical to one of the smaller romance events sadly!).
The plot was fast paced, but I felt like the later half of the book was a repeating event as they tried and failed during the conflict over and over. Don't get me wrong, I loved the plot overall, but at the end I was just getting exhausted. I am not sure if it is because the fast events never had a slow down, or if it was because the final show downs took multiple tries with the protagonist, but I had a hard time staying with it at the end. Additionally, in hindsight I really wished I wouldn't have known from Chapter 1 that the ghost was real... I wish I could have been bouncing back and forth within the theories the agency had all along the way with them.. instead I just felt like I kept having a sense of "hurry up and realize the ghost is real, lets go!". With all that said, the ending itself landed for me, it was rough in some ways, but it landed and felt complete.
Action scenes were hard for me to keep up with as it was difficult to envision how things were playing out around the diner and Dead House locations with the multitude of characters on site and multiple shifting perspectives. I read a lot of large fantasy epics, so shifting perspectives isn't new to me, but something about the writing for this felt like the perspective shifts during the major action sequences was jarring and left me having to back up and obtain my barring's again before continuing to read at times.
I am honestly really excited to see how this authors writing evolves and improves as he continues to publish more books in the future - I will be keeping my eye out for sure! This was quite an adventure of a story and is something I am glad to have had the opportunity to read. If I had one ask, beside the change with chapter 1, it would be to have the book be a little longer with a slow spot in the middle to explore some of the backgrounds on key characters such as LeBlanc so I could connect with them before the events of the second half of the book.
Some characters left me longing to know more about them, which is both good and bad. Others I felt like had little purpose being in the story. For example LeBlanc and his backstory was really unexplored, yet his was a primary supporting character for Raymond. I really had the desire to know more about LeBlanc, so I could connect on a deeper level emotionally, but I was left with little to hold on to... which resulted in me caring very little for the events impacting him or his feelings about the other characters (which was critical to one of the smaller romance events sadly!).
The plot was fast paced, but I felt like the later half of the book was a repeating event as they tried and failed during the conflict over and over. Don't get me wrong, I loved the plot overall, but at the end I was just getting exhausted. I am not sure if it is because the fast events never had a slow down, or if it was because the final show downs took multiple tries with the protagonist, but I had a hard time staying with it at the end. Additionally, in hindsight I really wished I wouldn't have known from Chapter 1 that the ghost was real... I wish I could have been bouncing back and forth within the theories the agency had all along the way with them.. instead I just felt like I kept having a sense of "hurry up and realize the ghost is real, lets go!". With all that said, the ending itself landed for me, it was rough in some ways, but it landed and felt complete.
Action scenes were hard for me to keep up with as it was difficult to envision how things were playing out around the diner and Dead House locations with the multitude of characters on site and multiple shifting perspectives. I read a lot of large fantasy epics, so shifting perspectives isn't new to me, but something about the writing for this felt like the perspective shifts during the major action sequences was jarring and left me having to back up and obtain my barring's again before continuing to read at times.
I am honestly really excited to see how this authors writing evolves and improves as he continues to publish more books in the future - I will be keeping my eye out for sure! This was quite an adventure of a story and is something I am glad to have had the opportunity to read. If I had one ask, beside the change with chapter 1, it would be to have the book be a little longer with a slow spot in the middle to explore some of the backgrounds on key characters such as LeBlanc so I could connect with them before the events of the second half of the book.
abibliofob's review against another edition
3.0
I have read Comanche by Brett Riley. This is not really my cup of coffee but there was something about this book I actually liked. I usually don't read science fiction, hooror or ghost stories. But, this one had a western theme and I like those. How do you solve a murder when the killer is a ghost? Well if you read this you'll get one sollution. It is a rather entertaining story and I will see in the future what Riley will write. I must thank #Netgalley and #ImbrifexBooks for giving me this arc to review.
mikefromarkansas's review against another edition
5.0
This is a western, and a thriller, and a horror and a ghost story. It’s freakin’ awesome! This takes place in Comanche, Texas beginning in the late 1800s and fast forwarding to 2016. There is a connection to the people back then to the present. My grandfather was born in Comanche county, Texas in the late 1800s, so it was fun to read a story using his home as a backdrop. It is a very well written novel. It’s a debut novel for Brett Riley. I highly recommend it. I listen to the audiobook. The narrator did a very good job.
cyireadbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Old West, meets New West in this thriller/ghost story.
There is someone that is terrorizing and murdering people in the small town of Comanche, TX. A private investigator, who is a relative of one of the townsfolk, is recruited to investigate the crimes.
What follows is a gripping story that begs for a series.
3.5 stars rounded up to 4. Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.
There is someone that is terrorizing and murdering people in the small town of Comanche, TX. A private investigator, who is a relative of one of the townsfolk, is recruited to investigate the crimes.
What follows is a gripping story that begs for a series.
3.5 stars rounded up to 4. Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.
popthebutterfly's review against another edition
1.0
Disclaimer: I received this book from Smith Publicity. Thanks! All opinions are my own.
Book: Comanche
Author: Brett Riley
Book Series: Standalone
Rating: 1/5
Recommended For...: murder mystery, horror fans
Publication Date: September 1, 2020
Genre: Mystery Horror
Recommended Age: can’t recommend, dnf-ed
Publisher: Imbrifex Books
Pages: 337
Synopsis: In 1887 near the tiny Texas town of Comanche, a posse finally ends the murderous career of The Piney Woods Kid in a hail of bullets. Still in the grip of blood-lust, the vigilantes hack the Kid’s corpse to bits in the dead house behind the train depot. The people of Comanche rejoice. Justice has been done. A long bloody chapter in the town’s history is over.
The year is now 2016. Comanche police are stymied by a double murder at the train depot. Witnesses swear the killer was dressed like an old-time gunslinger. Rumors fly that it’s the ghost of The Piney Woods Kid, back to wreak revenge on the descendants of the vigilantes who killed him.
Help arrives in the form of a team of investigators from New Orleans. Shunned by the local community and haunted by their own pasts, they’re nonetheless determined to unravel the mystery. They follow the evidence and soon find themselves in the crosshairs of the killer.
Review: DNFed at 60%. The book is a bit monotonous and doesn't really live up to the synopsis. There's very little paranormal activity in this book and the book just kinda bored me overall.
Verdict: Not for me but maybe for you!
Book: Comanche
Author: Brett Riley
Book Series: Standalone
Rating: 1/5
Recommended For...: murder mystery, horror fans
Publication Date: September 1, 2020
Genre: Mystery Horror
Recommended Age: can’t recommend, dnf-ed
Publisher: Imbrifex Books
Pages: 337
Synopsis: In 1887 near the tiny Texas town of Comanche, a posse finally ends the murderous career of The Piney Woods Kid in a hail of bullets. Still in the grip of blood-lust, the vigilantes hack the Kid’s corpse to bits in the dead house behind the train depot. The people of Comanche rejoice. Justice has been done. A long bloody chapter in the town’s history is over.
The year is now 2016. Comanche police are stymied by a double murder at the train depot. Witnesses swear the killer was dressed like an old-time gunslinger. Rumors fly that it’s the ghost of The Piney Woods Kid, back to wreak revenge on the descendants of the vigilantes who killed him.
Help arrives in the form of a team of investigators from New Orleans. Shunned by the local community and haunted by their own pasts, they’re nonetheless determined to unravel the mystery. They follow the evidence and soon find themselves in the crosshairs of the killer.
Review: DNFed at 60%. The book is a bit monotonous and doesn't really live up to the synopsis. There's very little paranormal activity in this book and the book just kinda bored me overall.
Verdict: Not for me but maybe for you!
achoward's review against another edition
2.0
There are going to be spoilers galore here, so if you want to read this book without any knowledge beyond the blurb, you should stop reading this review now.
The legend of the Piney Woods Kid is this: he was a murdering bastard, and a posse caught up with him, making him dead. That was back in the 1800s. Fast forward to modern times, and someone/something is killing off descendants of that posse, and witnesses say it was a gray-looking man dressed in Old West garb who did it.
Enter Raymond Taylor, who recently lost his wife and decided alcohol was the way to go to blunt that pain, and his partner, Darrell LeBlanc, of New Orleans, called in by Raymond's sister, who lives in Comanche with her husband, the mayor. They want to know what's going on in this small town, and they want whoever is responsible brought to justice. Sounds kind of like a posse to me.
Turner and LeBlanc arrive in Comanche with their medium sidekick - and by medium, I mean the crystal ball-toting kind - and a professor from LSU.
This isn't a mystery that's a intricate puzzler. We know immediately who is killing the folks in Comanche, and the motive is very straightforward: revenge. That it's a ghost as the murderer is fine - someone has to be the bad guy, so why not the original bad guy?
The story overall was just ok. There was a lot of wasted potential here, and I found the story itself repetitious and a bit cringey as I went through it. There's a lot of male posturing/alpha nonsense again and again, like frat dudes at a kegger telling their pals to hold them back so they don't kick the shit out of another dude. There are also not that many sightings of the ghost, which is a little odd since it's at least tangentially a ghost story, and if the Piney Woods Kid is pissed off, his ghost wandering the town where he was killed would have been something I'd have liked to see.
I found the pacing tedious, and the try/fail, try/fail repetition annoyed me. Parts of the book went on longer than they could have, and reading those parts, I don't understand why they weren't chopped down.
One big annoyance is the complete lack of quotation marks to denote dialogue. This made the action scenes in particular very difficult to follow, because they also shifted viewpoints. If a reader - or, specifically, THIS reader - has to backtrack at times during these sequences to figure out who the hell is saying what, you're going to have an annoyed reader, or one who just stops reading the book and gives it a DNF. I did finish it, but I imagine others will not. As the author is a professor of English at the college level, he knows there is a reason certain standards exist - quotations and punctuation, as well as no head-hopping in scenes among them - and that to stray from these things means the writing must be superior. Alas, I did not find it to be so.
On the whole, it looks like this may have started as a short story or novella years ago, was trunked, then was brought out and used as the basis for a novel without rewriting the original material. That can be good, sometimes. This was not one of them. Although the last 50 pages or so finally have some action, the ending was a letdown and one we've seen any number of times in 80's horror flicks with magical talismans or cursed toys/books/whatever.
Two stars out of five - one for writing it in the first place (my default), and one for an intriguing, but not well executed, idea.
Thanks to NetGalley and Imbrifex for the reading copy.
The legend of the Piney Woods Kid is this: he was a murdering bastard, and a posse caught up with him, making him dead. That was back in the 1800s. Fast forward to modern times, and someone/something is killing off descendants of that posse, and witnesses say it was a gray-looking man dressed in Old West garb who did it.
Enter Raymond Taylor, who recently lost his wife and decided alcohol was the way to go to blunt that pain, and his partner, Darrell LeBlanc, of New Orleans, called in by Raymond's sister, who lives in Comanche with her husband, the mayor. They want to know what's going on in this small town, and they want whoever is responsible brought to justice. Sounds kind of like a posse to me.
Turner and LeBlanc arrive in Comanche with their medium sidekick - and by medium, I mean the crystal ball-toting kind - and a professor from LSU.
This isn't a mystery that's a intricate puzzler. We know immediately who is killing the folks in Comanche, and the motive is very straightforward: revenge. That it's a ghost as the murderer is fine - someone has to be the bad guy, so why not the original bad guy?
The story overall was just ok. There was a lot of wasted potential here, and I found the story itself repetitious and a bit cringey as I went through it. There's a lot of male posturing/alpha nonsense again and again, like frat dudes at a kegger telling their pals to hold them back so they don't kick the shit out of another dude. There are also not that many sightings of the ghost, which is a little odd since it's at least tangentially a ghost story, and if the Piney Woods Kid is pissed off, his ghost wandering the town where he was killed would have been something I'd have liked to see.
I found the pacing tedious, and the try/fail, try/fail repetition annoyed me. Parts of the book went on longer than they could have, and reading those parts, I don't understand why they weren't chopped down.
One big annoyance is the complete lack of quotation marks to denote dialogue. This made the action scenes in particular very difficult to follow, because they also shifted viewpoints. If a reader - or, specifically, THIS reader - has to backtrack at times during these sequences to figure out who the hell is saying what, you're going to have an annoyed reader, or one who just stops reading the book and gives it a DNF. I did finish it, but I imagine others will not. As the author is a professor of English at the college level, he knows there is a reason certain standards exist - quotations and punctuation, as well as no head-hopping in scenes among them - and that to stray from these things means the writing must be superior. Alas, I did not find it to be so.
On the whole, it looks like this may have started as a short story or novella years ago, was trunked, then was brought out and used as the basis for a novel without rewriting the original material. That can be good, sometimes. This was not one of them. Although the last 50 pages or so finally have some action, the ending was a letdown and one we've seen any number of times in 80's horror flicks with magical talismans or cursed toys/books/whatever.
Two stars out of five - one for writing it in the first place (my default), and one for an intriguing, but not well executed, idea.
Thanks to NetGalley and Imbrifex for the reading copy.
ellie_bell's review
4.0
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.
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.
itssyryus's review against another edition
5.0
Thank you so much Netgalley and also Imbrifex Books for allowing me to read this beauty!! Mr. Riley is a skilled writer with an immersive, fluid and also well planned writing. I would say tactical because it'll match perfectly with the book's theme. If you love gangs, mafia, private investigators and many elements than tend to build a perfect thriller or horror book for you, this is the most seeked book for you heart! I gave this book a 5 star rating because it really deserves it. Looking forward to reading more books from Mr. Riley!
readwithhugo's review against another edition
4.0
In 1887, the town of Comanche, Texas was the site of the last stand of infamous outlaw, The Piney Woods Kid. After his death, vigilantes dragged The Kid’s body behind the town’s train depot and hacked it apart. In 2016, the residents of Comanche are shaken as two of the descendants of the vigilante party are brutally murdered behind the very same depot. Witnesses to both crimes say the killer was dressed like an old-fashioned cowboy and soon, rumors begin to fly while hysteria builds as people fear that the ghost of The Piney Woods Kid is out for revenge. When a private investigative team from New Orleans arrives to look into the murders, they find themselves right in the path of the killer and his mission. Is The Kid back or is a sick copycat out to repeat history?
Cowboy ghosts! Murder mystery! Cowboy ghosts!!! Murder mystery!!! COWBOY GHOSTS AND A MURDER MYSTERY!!!!!! I love westerns so much. Possibly the only thing I love more than westerns is a good crime fiction story. And the only thing I love more than a good crime fiction story is a legit, scare-your-pants-off ghost story. This book has it all! With different chapters taking place in different years, the reader gets to experience The Kid’s post-mortem reign of terror in two different centuries.
Cowboy ghosts! Murder mystery! Cowboy ghosts!!! Murder mystery!!! COWBOY GHOSTS AND A MURDER MYSTERY!!!!!! I love westerns so much. Possibly the only thing I love more than westerns is a good crime fiction story. And the only thing I love more than a good crime fiction story is a legit, scare-your-pants-off ghost story. This book has it all! With different chapters taking place in different years, the reader gets to experience The Kid’s post-mortem reign of terror in two different centuries.