Comanche Moon

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Summary: COMPLETES THE LONESOME DOVE SAGA
Review: Comanche Moon is the seemingly lost fourth volume of the Lonesome Dove series. I actually encountered it on a used book sale rack at my local library. I picked it up and was stunned to discover that it was an additional installment to the series by Larry McMurtry. I had bought and read the other three and enthusiastically read this one.

Comanche Moon is actually the second book in the series and takes up where Dead Man's Walk leaves off.

Comanche Moon is essential in that it provides much-needed connective tissue between Dead Man's Walk and Lonesome Dove. It brings Gus and Call back home after their failure in taking Santa Fe. It also paints much clearer portraits of important characters like Maggie, Newt's mother, and Clara Harris, the love of Augustus McCrae's life.

Especially important are the answers to questions that Comanche Moon provides about Blue Duck. But I'll leave you to the book to discover those for yourself.

No less than Lonesome Dove, Dead Man's Walk and Streets of Laredo, Comanche Moon is an incredible story in true Larry McMurtry style and, as already noted, is essential to the complete Lonesome Dove saga.

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Summary: Comanche Moon by Catherine Anderson
Review: Comanche Moon, was the first book I started reading, and because of this book, this woman, I am now an avid reader of historical romances. Catherine didn't have a problem making the scenes and creators as true to life as possible. You are made to feel like you are right there as the events are unfolding. I now want to read all of her books, and have gone on to read other historical romance authors' work. Thank you Mrs. Anderson.

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Summary: Comanche Moon by Catherine Anderson
Review: Comanche Moon, was the first book I started reading, and because of this book, this woman, I am now an avid reader of historical romances. Catherine didn't have a problem making the scenes and creators as true to life as possible. You are made to feel like you are right there as the events are unfolding. I now want to read all of her books, and have gone on to read other historical romance authors' work. Thank you Mrs. Anderson.

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Summary: A Book of Good Character, But Little Action
Review: Many reviewers in this section have already echoed my dominant feelings about this book...disappointment. I picked up this book with more anticipation than I did with either Streets of Laredo or Dead Man's Walk. I thought that, since it was the direct prequel to Lonesome Dove, we'd find the same perfect combination of characters, action, drama and unpredictability that we did in the sequel. I was only partially right. McMurtry is a master at drawing and developing characters. Although he was tired of Gus and Woodrow by this point, he still held true to their characters. He also gave us some very dramatic moments in character interaction. The scenes between Call and Maggie are powerful and heart breaking in their subtlety, more so than the scenes between Gus and Clara. A particularly beautiful scene takes place between Deets and Pea Eye, when Pea tries to tell Deets that he can call him by his first name. This is McMurtry drama at its best. We can also see more deeply into the character of Jake Spoon and find more sympathy for him when we read again of his fate years later. Still, if McMurtry does justice to his main characters, he does even more justice to the Indians of the story. Buffalo Hump, Kicking Wolf and Famous Shoes are all vivid characters than earn our respect, even if we fear them. We even learn more of Blue Duck, although I always felt he was most effective as the terrifying, shadowy figure that plagued Gus and Call in Lonesome Dove. Not all of the characters are worthy. Inish and Inez Scull are shallow and add little to the book. Unfortunately, the unpredictable nature of McMurtry's writing takes a negative turn in this book. There is no action where there should be and much of the drama in this book is anticlimactic. We aren't given one good blood-and-guts battle between the Rangers and the Indians. Some might mark this as realism, but I don't look for stark realism when I read fiction. Lonesome Dove was brilliant because it gave us all of the things that make an epic story, including good action scenes. Gus and Call are at the height of their Indian-fighting powers in Comanche Moon and the reader would expect at least one good clash between opposing forces. Sadly, we find none of this in the story. Ultimately, Comanche Moon is worth reading for those who are big fans of the characters, but it's a drag in the end.

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Summary: This is one book that deserves extra-credit!
Review: The fierce Commanche warrior Hunter Wolf is chosen by his people to cross the western wilderness in search of the elusive maiden who would fulfill thier sacred prophecy. He finds and captures Loretta Simpson, a proud golden-haired beauty who swears to defy her captor. What she doesn't realize is that she and Hunter are bound by destiny. When she is finally convinced of her love for Hunter she is given a wedding present by her lover's jealous enemy. It is a comb that belonged to her mother. Realizing that Hunter's tribe was responsible for killing her mother, she runs away. She can never stay with those that killed her family. Hunter goes after her.

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Summary: For lover's of American Indian tales....this is a "keeper"
Review: The fierce Commanche warrior Hunter Wolf is chosen by his people to cross the western wilderness in search of the elusive maiden who would fulfill thier sacred prophecy. He finds and captures Loretta Simpson, a proud golden-haired beauty who swears to defy her captor. What she doesn't realize is that she and Hunter are bound by destiny. When she is finally convinced of her love for Hunter she is given a wedding present by her lover's jealous enemy. It is a comb that belonged to her mother. Realizing that Hunter's tribe was responsible for killing her mother, she runs away. She can never stay with those that killed her family. Hunter goes after her.

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Summary: This is one book that deserves extra-credit!
Review: This book is WONDERFUL anyone who reads it will definitly fall inlove with each and every character. It has a tale of strength, heartache, courage, and love. What I would love to know is, "When will C.A. write a book about her Character Amy, who plays the heroines sister?".

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Summary: Comanche Moon
Review: This is a middle book in the Lonesome Dove series; it's the one that comes before Lonesome Dove proper. Pleasantly, McMurtry doesn't subject any of his main characters to horrible deaths this time around. On the other hand, if you've read the other books you know what's coming, so the comforting effect of that is relative.

Native Americans get a slightly better portrayal here than in some of the other volumes. There are still psycho killers, including one really frightening bandit, but there are also brave and genuinely human characters. Overall it's a gritty version of the period just before the Civil War, with gripping scenes of torture and survival. As usual, there are strong female characters, but they generally come to bad ends, just as the men do.

I'd recommend this for readers of the series. I'm not sure how well it stands alone.

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Summary: Comanche Moon
Review: This is one of the best books by far that Catherine Anderson has written! Be prepared for a rollercoaster of emotions as C.A. brings our past history back to life. She had created a story that will pull you in and keep you hanging on until the very last moment. I couldn't put this book down and when I was finished I was ready to read the book again! Wow!