Review: Bronze Star: The Damnation of Harley Brogden - Mike Baron

Mike Baron is one of those writers whose work I read and enjoyed long before we became friends on-line. His work as a comic book scripter in the Eighties, Nineties, and beyond is legendary. In the past decade he’s turned to writing novels, producing the great private eye series Biker, the hilarious Florida Man novels, and some top-notch horror thrillers. He’s also turned his hand to Westerns, and I’ve just read the first in his new series Bronze Star, THE DAMNATION OF HARLEY BROGDEN.

Not surprisingly, the protagonist of this novel is Harley Brogden, a former Confederate soldier who turned irregular and rode with Quantrell’s Raiders. The war is over now, and Harley earns his living providing meat to the army. He also likes to gamble, though, and a poker game goes wrong when the son of the richest man in the territory takes offense at losing and goes for his gun. Harley beats him to the draw and kills him, but even though he survives this shootout, he knows the man’s father and an army of hired guns will be after him, seeking vengeance.

Having no choice but to take off for the tall and uncut, Harley rides across the border into the western reaches of Canada, where he winds up in a town full of eccentric characters, many of them immigrants from Croatia. Some of them possess odd powers. There’s a silver mine nearby, but it’s not being worked anymore because something evil lives inside it and has claimed numerous lives. Harley makes friends and starts a romance with the widow who runs the local boarding house, but before he can settle down to any sort of life, he has to deal with the supernatural menace hanging over the town. Oh, and the vengeful cattle baron and his hired gun-wolves show up, too, of course.

To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of most Weird Westerns. In too many of them, the author knows how to write horror or knows how to write Westerns, but not both. That’s not the case in THE DAMNATION OF HARLEY BROGDEN, which is excellent in both respects. Not that I expected anything less from Mike Baron. He brings his own unique touch to everything he writes, and nobody in the business today comes up with better protagonists. Harley Brogden is a complex character, deadly proficient when it comes to violence but at the same time possessing a likable, gentle touch with those he befriends, especially animals and children. Haunted by some of his past actions, he’s genuinely trying to become a better man, and most of the time he succeeds. You still don’t want to make an enemy out of him, though.

I had a very good time reading this novel and give it a high recommendation for Weird Western fans. I think most traditional Western fans would enjoy it, too. I’m pretty sure there are sequels on the way, but for now, you can pick this up in e-book and paperback editions on Amazon. It’s another winner from Mike Baron.