Brules: A Novel [Hardcover]

Harry Combs (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1992

When the woman he loves is captured, tortured, and murdered by a Comanche war party, Brules sets out on a one-man campaign against the entire Comanche nation. By the author of Kill Devil Hill.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In 1916, civil engineering student Steven Cartwright plays hooky from his father's fall cattle drive to visit Cat Brules, a mysterious Colorado mountain man rumored to be a thief and a murderer. The friendship between the boy and this relic of the rapidly disappearing frontier provides a frame for this fluid first novel, as Brules tells Steven the story of his life over a series of nights around the campfire. After a drive down the Chisholm Trail in 1867, Brules killed his trail boss in a fight over a Hays City, Kans., prostitute named Michelle. Fleeing town, the pair were captured by Comanches; Brules escaped, but Michelle was tortured and killed, setting her lover on a one-man vendetta against the Indians. Brules gradually overcomes his hatred, eventually marrying a Native American. The author, an aviation pioneer who wrote a nonfiction study of the Wright Brothers, Kill Devil Hill , clearly knows and loves the land and history of the American West. References to numerous actual people and events (Butch Cassidy, General Crook, the Fetterman massacre) add verisimilitude to his story. Although overly long and tending to drag in spots, this expansive novel will remind some readers of Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove .
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The wide-open spaces of Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico during the years following the Civil War form the backdrop of this Western novel of bonanza proportions. In a highly colloquial voice, Cat Brules narrates a rich reminiscence of the Old West as he hunts buffalo and stalks Comanche Indians in revenge for their murder of his loved ones, constantly testing his considerable shooting skills. Combs, the author of an award-winning study of the Wright brothers ( Kill Devil Hill , Houghton, LJ 12/15/79. o.p.), does a nice job of detailing the guns, wildlife, and Indian customs of the period. A paucity of dialog and a few too many repetitive Comanche episodes slightly mar the fun, but most readers of Westerns will still find the journey well worth the ride.
- Keddy Ann Outlaw, Harris Cty. P.L., Houston
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 521 pages
• Publisher: Bantam Dell Pub Group (Trd); First Edition first Printing edition (July 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 089141455X
• ISBN-13: 978-0891414551
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.4 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,513,481 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Favorite Novel of the Frontier West, February 12, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Brules (Audio Cassette)

This novel absorbed and transported me as few others of the genre have. Cat Brules is a simple, utterly uneducated, natively ingenious man who suffers extreme hardship and personal loss but continues to wage his wars, trying to overcome both the Comanches and his own devastation, and succeeding in ways he never expected. A professional critic I am certainly not, but an avid reader of many genres - this is in my top five favorite novels of any kind - ever. Read it (but read the unabridged version) and love it.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brules is the best of the best, and he proves it., December 9, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Brules (Mass Market Paperback)

This is one of the best books that I have read about the old west. The detail that Mr. Combs puts into this book is just awsome. After you read this book you will want to go and saddle a horse, strap on you .38 Smith & Wesson, put your model 66 Winchester in its sheath and have your own adventures. If you like Louis L'amour's books then you will love Brules. He is the man that we all wish we could have been, in the time of history when survival of the fittest was the way of the land. This was a hard time that demanded hard men to tame the "wild west". What they got in Brules was one of the harderst and most dangerous men(when rialed) they could have imagined. Brules is one of the men that legends are made of. This IS the best western book that I have read and I highly recommend this book to any person who is fascinated about the time and people.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BRULE'S, December 15, 2001

By 

TERRI L. COLLINS (NORWOOD, CO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brules (Mass Market Paperback)

THIS BOOK BY HARRY COMBS IS FABULOUS. THE DETAILS OF THE AREA ARE SUPERB. AS WE LIVE VERY CLOSE BY AND HAVE BEEN TO THIS SPOT MANY TIMES, WE ARE VERY PLEASED WITH HIS PRECISE DETAIL. THE STORY IS SO EASY TO FOLLOW AND CAPTIVATING, WE COULD NOT WAIT TO OBTAIN THE NEXT 2 BOOKS. MANY OF OUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS IN NORWOOD HAVE ORDERED THIS ON OUR RECOMMENDATION. THANK YOU HARRY COMBS.