Broken Lance

Frank Gruber was one of the most celebrated "pulp" writers of his day. And what makes a story pulp is the fact it is fast paced with plenty of action. This novel about a man's stubbornness in search of revenge which begins in Chicago, to Fort Lincoln, Nebraska where he enlists in the 7th Cavalry (we get to meet Custer) fighting Indians, and finding love, before finding the ones he is after, makes for quiet an exciting and adventuresome book.

The familiar western revenge plot is the theme for this good novel that plays out during the campaign against the Sioux, specifically Custer's last fight on the Little Big Horn. A man's search for the three men who murdered his fiance leads to Fort Lincoln and the Seventh Cavalry, where the military is ready to march against the Indians. Recruit John Leach's suspicions of a sergeant of the Seventh develop into an abiding hatred between the two men, creating tension and unrest among the troopers. The book is the source for the exciting 1951 western film "Warpath", with Edmond O'Brien as the revenge-seeking hero who stalks brawling sergeant Forrest Tucker. Frank Gruber authored dozens of pulp fiction westerns back in the day, some of which were filmed, but this cavalry-Indian historical novel may be his best tale of the old west.