Customer Reviews

Custer's Brother's Horse

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What a terrific novel! This type of entertaining story-telling just doesn't come along very often. Put it among the best-written historical novels of Texas, with THE WONDERFUL COUNTRY and LONESOME DOVE, and with great recent post-Civil War novels, ENEMY WOMEN and COLD MOUNTAIN.

There are dead-on descriptions of Texas geography, from Austin to East Texas bayous, and natural history abounds -- a special attention to birds, birds, but the whole of the story hidden frequently in mist, fog, rain, smoke that gives it at times almost a fairytale atmosphere ... punctuated by gunfire and brutality. Shrake especially excels at carefully including the backgrounds of each of his major characters, and an opportunity for the action to be seen from each of their points of view, so that there is a deep enrichment of interest in them, in the fate of each.

This is accurate history, a carefully drawn story with ambiguous moral high grounds, a family feud, love interests, the uncertain life of freed slaves, great adventure and the influence of a magnificent horse. Truly creative, the unexpected at every turn, and an ending that deserves applause. A fine work. Thank you, Bud Shrake.

I have never felt the desire to submit a personal review before, but this book was excellent and far exceeded my expectations. The flow and pace of the story made it very engaging and nearly impossible to put down. The description of the flora and fauna of Texas made it easy to visualize the settings. Most importantly the characters were completely fleshed out in such a way that it didn't interfere the overall pace of the story.

I am generally not a fan of civil war books (being an African American), but the way this book was written completly won me over.

If you liked the movie Outlaw Josey Wells you will enjoy this funny,gritty, violent read.

Texas Monthly magazine featured this book with an excerpt of three chapters. I read those and HAD to own the book! I couldn't find it locally and ended up paying more for the shipping than the book as I wanted it NOW. I thoroughly enjoyed the story line, the historical setting and authentic Texas trails from Austin to Houston. I gave the book to my oldest son in college and he read it over one weekend; during school session! This novel is loaded with colorful characters, unexpected turns and page-turning drama. I highly recommend this book to anyone.

Mr. Shrake did well in his descriptions of the moods, geography and conditions in Texas after the Civil war. Except for the Spencer (which a .56-.56caliber) and not a .58 The other firearms including Floras derringer,described were not introduced until 8-10 years after this story was depicted which was frustrating for some of us knowledgeable in that area. My ggrandfather came to Texas after his service for 4 years in the CSA army to get away from this type of violence in Georgia so I could relate to that era.However, I think Mr. Shrake should have done more historical research(i.e. A limestone cave downriver of Bastrop?) and concluded with a better ending.
Leighton Stallones-- San Marcos,Tx