Available at Amazon.com here. Also available through Barnes and Noble here.
“Make no mistake about it: this book should have a parental advisory label on it! Riley is the love-grand-child of Ernest Hemingway and Elmore Leonard and of Jack Kerouac and Gabriel Garcia-Marquez. He is a demonic unmasker of the reader’s own dark side, and most if not all readers will be made, at the very least, slightly uncomfortable by the work in this volume, if not driven mad by an insatiable itch to throw the book into the fire but who will remain nonetheless transfixed, as if watching endless repeats of some horrific slow-motion accident replete with blood, gore, and loss of bladder control. This is heady, dangerous stuff. Sweating dynamite.”
—Jamie Brown, Editor, The Broadkill Review
This intriguing and often raucously funny collection by Brett Riley marries ingenious plots, innovative forms, and a definite narrative voice, but there’s something bigger than all that here, too: the attempt to understand how our own lives fall so far short—and repeatedly fall so far short—of that perfect choreography promised by the technology that tries to shape them.
—Mark Jackson, Book Review Editor, Concho River Review
Brett Riley’s fine collection of interrelated stories takes an innovative and insightful look at a classic theme: the sad, maddening—and sometimes uproariously funny—way people get caught in self-created traps, traps they can see clearly and still can’t avoid falling into again and again. Readers will, I suspect, experience the discomfort of self-recognition and still manage to laugh. This collection gives us a glimpse into ourselves and our frustrating, heartbreaking, and hilarious contemporary lives—and that, surely, is something first-rate fiction should do.
—Dr. Mallory Young, Tarleton State University and Ink Brush Press
The stories are almost surreal in execution, and many of them feel like a beer-soaked confession on a boat in a muddy Arkansas river: Meandering, hilarious, with brilliant beats of repetition that makes his poor narrator’s suffering seem like a joke everybody is in on except him.
—Amazon customer Review
Available at Amazon here and from Barnes and Noble here. Also available at brick-and-mortar bookstores everywhere.
“A clever, imaginative blend of literary fiction, historical fiction, horror, dark humor, and detective procedural.”— Si Dunn,Lone Star Literary Life. (10/25/2020)
“Debut novelist Riley tells a quite deliciously twisted tale. The novel is a lot of fun, with a very entertaining story and a great cast of characters.”— David Pitt,Booklist. (04/10/20)
“Brett Riley’s gothic ghost western, Comanche, will delight readers of both westerns and horror, and thrill readers of the sub-genre, horror-westerns; fans of TV shows such as Grimm, The Outsider, and CW’s long-running smash Supernatural will find plenty to admire. Riley’s prose sings, and Riley’s attuned ear for dialogue will have readers itching for a Netflix adaptation.”— Stephen Scott Whitaker,The Broadkill Review. (October, 2020).
“Brett Riley’s COMANCHE is the best western-horror-thriller-ghost story-PI novel ever written. COMANCHE is a rollicking ride. Fans of Joe Lansdale and James Lee Burke, Brett Riley is the author you didn’t know you loved.” —Tod Goldberg, author of Gangsterland and Gangster Nation.
“Brett Riley’s Comanche is a contemporary Western gothic tale, resonant with the exploration of the relationship of man and evil―pure evil in the form of a vengeful ghost inflicting outlaw cruelty on a small Texas town. Two gritty New Orleans detectives and a sensual medium are the outsiders who ride in to deliver justice. They must overcome the greed and small-mindedness of town officials, discovering a truth, also explored by such writers as Richard Brautigan and Stephen King, that evil appears when summoned. Riley shows an admirable mastery of both Texas and New Orleans dialects in frank, entertaining prose. Comanche is a classic Western for the here and now, delivering redemption through sacrifice, recovery through bravery and heart.”—Douglas Unger, author of “Leaving the Land and Voices from Silence.”
“A small Texas town, a puffed-up mayor, a couple of down and out cops, an alluring psychic, and a murdering phantom: what could go possibly go wrong? Find out in this barn burner of a modern western turned ghost story, but don’t read it alone and don’t read it late at night . . . you’re going to be wide awake for this one.”—Laura McBride, author of “We Are Called to Rise” and “In the Midnight Room”
“An atmospheric southern wonderland of guns, grit, bullets, blood and rip-roaring mystery. Riley’s cast of characters are all a little good, a little bad, and a little ugly—a perfect mirror for us all. Saddle up. Hold on tight. And expect no quarter in Comanche, Texas.”—BJ Hollars, author of “Midwestern Strange”
Comanche book trailer
Available from Amazon here and at Barnes and Noble here. Also available in brick-and-mortar bookstores everywhere.
“Riley (Comanche) presents a convincingly bleak vision of the future in his latest. The violence will be too gory for some readers, but those who stick with it will find Riley has a facility for fast-paced action that keeps the pages turning. There’s plenty to keep readers’ attention and enough questions are left open to make a sequel welcome. Those who like their dystopias especially gritty will want to take a look.”—Publishers Weekly, (12/01/20)
“With the one-two punch of Comanche and Lord of Order, Riley has established himself as an ambitious and versatile writer, and it will be very interesting to see where he goes next. SF fans, especially those with a dystopian bent, will certainly love this one.”—David Pitt, Booklist Magazine, (03/15/21)
“Darkly humorous and brutal, Lord of Order takes readers on a violent gun-slinging wade through a visceral, blood-soaked swamp of human frailty and redemption that pushes the boundaries of definition. Lord of Order is entertainingly good and challenging gunslinger grimdark that well-deserves its four stars. I’ll be searching out the author’s back catalogue whilst awaiting the sequel (I hope) to this.”—Lee Doughty,GrimDark Magazine
“The violent religious right at the heart of Brett Riley’s Lord of Order leaps out from current events and into a dystopian future of purges, information control, and tyranny. And as the Crusade, the holy government, presses its heel into the jaw of New Orleans, the once faithful stare down malfeasance, corruption, and hatred in a state that once promised prosperity, a good life. Enter Troy, lord of order, a sheriff-of-sorts, who with his friends comprise a resistance movement aligned with the Troublers, scape-goats of the Crusade. The past is future in this sweaty, swampy, gun-slinging first cousin to dystopian classics like The Handmaid’s Tale and Fahrenheit 451. Lord of Order crackles. Grab your gear, double down on the ammo, Brett Riley’s dystopian action thriller will have you reaching for a whisky and your six-shooter.”—Stephen Scott Whitaker, author, co-editor of The Broadkill Review, and member of the National Book Critics Circle
“In this riveting pressure cooker of a novel, a man of faith, Gabriel Troy, and the city he loves face a force of destruction cloaked in religious righteousness. To confront it, Troy and his allies assemble a ragtag army of one-time enemies united by an adeptness in bloodshed and a passion to stand–and save–their ground. Yet not all alliances seem trustworthy or certain, and as the danger from without draws closer, dangers from within appear to heighten as well. So do the tests of faith faced by Troy and his associates. Through vivid scenes of battle and quiet moments of reflection, this engrossing novel brings us to the heart of these internal and external struggles and, ultimately, suggests a way toward redemption.—Beth Castrodale, author of In This Ground and Marion Hatley
“Brett Riley’s Lord of Order is a post-apocalyptic action novel that tells a tale of Christian city-states and peoples locked in life-and-death struggles for or against authoritarianism and genocide spurred on by feuding ideologies of purity to faith. Set in a post-technological New Orleans still recovering from the last era of merciless purges, the story follows the city’s main leaders, and its enforcer and Lord, Gabriel Troy, as he uncovers deception and subterfuge then organizes to do battle against the next bloody purge from Washington aimed straight at his city and its citizens. What follows includes violent scenes and combat not written for the squeamish or faint of heart. Brett Riley writes hard core action that should keep readers turning his pages, his literary point the hypocrisy and perfidy of extremist fundamentalisms that trample all freedom and humanity.”—Douglas Unger, author of Leaving the Land, and Voices from Silence
“In a dark future America, the ruler thought to be God’s spokesman on earth will become not only corrupted by absolute power, but also driven to genocidal madness. To save mankind, people of faith must risk their lives, and their very souls. Lord of Order is a remarkable dystopian novel from the imaginative author of Comanche.”—A.D. Hopkins, author of The Boys Who Woke Up Early
“Lord of Order enthralls and entertains, but also breaks and bruises. It’s Whedon’s “Firefly” meets McCarthy’s “Blood Meridian,” a riveting tale akin to those of the old Old West, but set in a new New Orleans. It’s what I might call a “Gumbo Western,” the likes of which I’ve not seen before, expertly made from crawfish and horseflesh. Riley’s prose is simultaneously delicate and brutal, yet always evocative, always visceral. But, for all its grit and gore, Lord of Order, above all else, is a testament to human decency in a future world gone mad with oppression, hate, and violence.”—Courtney Harler,CourtneyHarler.com
Lord of Order book trailer
“Horror is about power, and this novel explores the type of power superheroes and underdogs might harness…for good or ill.”–Den of Geek, naming their best horror novels of March 2022
“A fun romp that fans of Stranger Things,superheroes, and Marvel and DC stories will enjoy…The story also explores finding one’s purpose and sticking up for one’s beliefs, even when faced with the worst of enemies.”—Booklist Magazine
“Riley goes for the gusto, opening with raw language and vividly explicit incidents of bullying followed by rising general terror punctuated by sprays of blood. He also stirs in some juicy complications…” Kirkus Reviews
“A great spin on the superhero story, told with genuine depth.”—Mark Waid, best-selling author of History of the Marvel Universe,Doctor Strange, and Superman Birthright. (07/12/21)
“A fun and fresh twist on the superhero story! Fast-paced, strong characters, and twists and turns make this a must read!”—Jennifer Brody/Vera Strange, author of The 13th Continuum Trilogy, Spectre Deep 6, and the Disney Chills series. (07/10/21)
“With Freaks, Brett Riley has accomplished something very few YA authors have: freakishly good writing, freakishly relatable characters, freakishly awesome premise — all making for a freakishly great read.”—M. P. Kozlowsky, author of Frost and Rose Coffin (05/04/21)
“Freaks begins at top speed and never lets up until the final page. Like some fascinating blend of Stranger Things and X-Men, Brett Riley’s novel explores what power means and how it is best wielded, making the book both timely and timeless. A fantastic read!”—Kevin Waltman, author of Nowhere Fast,Learning the Game, and Next (06/24/21)
