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Gully Town: A Novel of Kansas City
From Thorpe Menn Award winning author G.P. Schultz. A best-selling historical romance. Come along on an action-packed journey back to the 1860s, where you'll experience pre-Civil War border raids. Quantrill's sacking of Lawrence, and the Battle of Westport before moving to early-day Kansas City and the colorful people and places that figured in its rise.
332 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 1991
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141 people want to read
About the author
G.P. Schultz
6 books19 followersBio Smash
G.P. Schultz was born in Longacre, West Virginia to a coal mining family. He grew up in wild, wonderful West Virginia, where he loved to play sports. He then served with the 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii where he met his wife, Vicki, who was attending the University of Hawaii. They have two daughters and currently reside in Kansas City.
His writing career began in mid-life, with the publication of his first novel, Gully Town. His idea for the novel came from years of working with the Irish and the Itailans in the River Quay area of Kansas City, and he wanted to revive the city’s rich history in a novel.
He currently divides his time between his one man marketing business and writing, but also enjoys golf and gardening, and follows any sporting event that requires the use of a ball.
He writes fiction, but combines it with years of research to make his novels accurate in time and place. His writing philosophy is, that you can’t have a compelling story, without a compelling romance.
G.P. Schultz was born in Longacre, West Virginia to a coal mining family. He grew up in wild, wonderful West Virginia, where he loved to play sports. He then served with the 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii where he met his wife, Vicki, who was attending the University of Hawaii. They have two daughters and currently reside in Kansas City.
His writing career began in mid-life, with the publication of his first novel, Gully Town. His idea for the novel came from years of working with the Irish and the Itailans in the River Quay area of Kansas City, and he wanted to revive the city’s rich history in a novel.
He currently divides his time between his one man marketing business and writing, but also enjoys golf and gardening, and follows any sporting event that requires the use of a ball.
He writes fiction, but combines it with years of research to make his novels accurate in time and place. His writing philosophy is, that you can’t have a compelling story, without a compelling romance.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 12, 2011
**This book was received as a free Advanced Reader's Copy.
This was one of the better books I've read in awhile. In fact, I absolutely loved it and felt really drawn to the characters. I was even brought to tears at one point.
Gully Town starts during the Civil War and ends in the early nineteen hundreds and covers Kansas City. Most specifically, the lives of a few inhabitants are followed. Friends that came together through different circumstances, they make an impact on the city and from them their children continue on the legacy. Red goes from being a young boy good with horses to a notorious outlaw. Jack starts from humble roots (as does his friend Kevin) and becomes a big name in the city. As Kansas City grows they go on with their lives to the best of their abilities.
This book had great characters. They were all written in such a way that you cared about them. That you wanted to know what happened to them. I have to say my favorites were Red and little Joey. Red was such a complex character and even though he had his ups and downs he was a genuinely good guy. Joey, although he played a smaller role in the book, was very vibrant and just made you feel good. All the other characters were wonderful too of course, I can't even recall any that I didn't particularly care for. The relationship stories are very compelling as well and I found most of them quite sweet.
This book was based partly in reality and though I don't know much about that part of the world in that particular time, it seemed authentic and well researched to me. And I enjoyed following these characters through that time in history. It was interesting to see how quickly things started progressing and the change in life and technology in only a few years. The writing style was fluid and had a nice pace. There weren't any lags and it always kept things interesting. One should note that there is mention of violence, sex, murder, etc. so those who aren't into that kind of thing should be warned. I should also mention that the book included some old photos of Kansas City, which was a nice touch.
This book was very nicely done. Its definitely deserving of a permanent position on my bookshelf. One of my favorites this year.
Gully Town
Copyright 1990
332 pages
Review by M. Reynard 2011
More of my reviews can be found at ifithaswords.blogspot.com
This was one of the better books I've read in awhile. In fact, I absolutely loved it and felt really drawn to the characters. I was even brought to tears at one point.
Gully Town starts during the Civil War and ends in the early nineteen hundreds and covers Kansas City. Most specifically, the lives of a few inhabitants are followed. Friends that came together through different circumstances, they make an impact on the city and from them their children continue on the legacy. Red goes from being a young boy good with horses to a notorious outlaw. Jack starts from humble roots (as does his friend Kevin) and becomes a big name in the city. As Kansas City grows they go on with their lives to the best of their abilities.
This book had great characters. They were all written in such a way that you cared about them. That you wanted to know what happened to them. I have to say my favorites were Red and little Joey. Red was such a complex character and even though he had his ups and downs he was a genuinely good guy. Joey, although he played a smaller role in the book, was very vibrant and just made you feel good. All the other characters were wonderful too of course, I can't even recall any that I didn't particularly care for. The relationship stories are very compelling as well and I found most of them quite sweet.
This book was based partly in reality and though I don't know much about that part of the world in that particular time, it seemed authentic and well researched to me. And I enjoyed following these characters through that time in history. It was interesting to see how quickly things started progressing and the change in life and technology in only a few years. The writing style was fluid and had a nice pace. There weren't any lags and it always kept things interesting. One should note that there is mention of violence, sex, murder, etc. so those who aren't into that kind of thing should be warned. I should also mention that the book included some old photos of Kansas City, which was a nice touch.
This book was very nicely done. Its definitely deserving of a permanent position on my bookshelf. One of my favorites this year.
Gully Town
Copyright 1990
332 pages
Review by M. Reynard 2011
More of my reviews can be found at ifithaswords.blogspot.com
August 20, 2011
Come along on an action- packed journey back to the 1860s, where you'll experience pre-Civil War border raids, Quantrill's sacking of Lawrence, and the Battle of Westport before moving to early-day Kansas City and the colorful people and places that figured in its rise"
G.P. Schultz has created a novel that truly transports the reader to 1860's Kansas- warts and all-peopled by facinating characters and plots- the very intense research that must have gone into this book pays off- as the end result is a novel to not only read- but to savor!
G.P. Schultz is a writer to read and read again!!
A JAMES MASON COMMUNITY BOOK CLUB MUST READ
RICK FRIEDMAN
FOUNDER
THE JAMES MASON COMMUNITY BOOK CLUB
G.P. Schultz has created a novel that truly transports the reader to 1860's Kansas- warts and all-peopled by facinating characters and plots- the very intense research that must have gone into this book pays off- as the end result is a novel to not only read- but to savor!
G.P. Schultz is a writer to read and read again!!
A JAMES MASON COMMUNITY BOOK CLUB MUST READ
RICK FRIEDMAN
FOUNDER
THE JAMES MASON COMMUNITY BOOK CLUB
July 20, 2011
It's a joy to read a really well-written book -- for me that's a book in a setting that radiates life peopled with characters who are alive, breathe, slog through the mud, screw up their lives, pick themselves and try again. That's the sum and substance of Gully Town: A Novel of Kansas City. I feel as if I picked up a sugar Easter egg with a peep hole and have been watching as Jack Hannon, Keven and Mary, Red and Adam find their place and help construct this city from the mud and levees and livestock and outlaws. Yep, the James Brothers, Youngers, Wild Bill, and other Robin Hoodish characters mingle with area war heroes and founders in the building and defending of Kansas City.
As these four men -- orphans, recent Irish immigrants, Texas trail rider, and soldiers seek adventure, and reward themselves in the rough and tough sports and adventures of the times, they begin to determine who they are and how to survive in the "wild (mid)west." They chasing bad guys, they are the bad guys and they advance against the Kansas Jayhawkers as Missouri establishes her position in the days surrounding the Civil War. Sporting little more than amazing strength, initiative and inspiration and raw edges, the quartet of protags are less adept and lacking in finesse when it comes to understanding and conquering the fairer set -- well, they falter when it comes to the ladies that have touched their hearts. They know quite well how to handle their relationships with the girls of the evening who drift into their lives. The author rose to the occasion on both counts, handling the feelings and emotions of the scenes with the ladies from the elegant homes on the hill, as well as the fanciful vignettes with the soiled doves of the bars on the levee -- even when Jack and Kevin spend a portion of their first Kansas City pay to take on two of the whores -- in rotation.
In fact, this author has the finesse and skill to present scenes of rapid fire action, mind-numbing rejection and loss, violent battle, and intense passion so that the reader smells, hears and sees the action before he feels it -- it's as if the reader is reveling in his own memories. It's a rare talent, indeed, one obviously honed under pressure in smokey newsrooms where complicated stories must be written on command, with a deadline to the cacophony of standard typewriters, ringing phones, shouting editors all choreographed to the tinkling beat of Linotype machines and the persistent ticking as the clock's hands move toward deadline.
After reading the author's bio, I was well prepared for him to spin a well-organized no nonsense story stocked with good solid research and packed with historical anecdotes; Schultz caught me entirely off guard when he unexpectedly began to throw very intelligent humor into the mix.
It's a shame authors are far from readers on those occasions when they could be rewarded by the sight of a reading light reluctantly dimmed in the wee hours and the sound of giggles of surprise and glee accentuated by unattractive snorts. G. P. Schultz deserves the belly laughs, the murmurs of surprise and admiration, the sudden intake of breath as the reader's new friends fall in harm's way and the unbidden tears that fall as the book's inhabitants make their way through life in fledgling Kansas City. All are richly deserved.
Mr. Schultz, Dancing with Ghosts is waiting in my Kindle...but I'm going to savor the experience of Gully Town for a week or two before I move forward a few decades with the author as ..."everything[stays]up to date in Kansas City."
As these four men -- orphans, recent Irish immigrants, Texas trail rider, and soldiers seek adventure, and reward themselves in the rough and tough sports and adventures of the times, they begin to determine who they are and how to survive in the "wild (mid)west." They chasing bad guys, they are the bad guys and they advance against the Kansas Jayhawkers as Missouri establishes her position in the days surrounding the Civil War. Sporting little more than amazing strength, initiative and inspiration and raw edges, the quartet of protags are less adept and lacking in finesse when it comes to understanding and conquering the fairer set -- well, they falter when it comes to the ladies that have touched their hearts. They know quite well how to handle their relationships with the girls of the evening who drift into their lives. The author rose to the occasion on both counts, handling the feelings and emotions of the scenes with the ladies from the elegant homes on the hill, as well as the fanciful vignettes with the soiled doves of the bars on the levee -- even when Jack and Kevin spend a portion of their first Kansas City pay to take on two of the whores -- in rotation.
In fact, this author has the finesse and skill to present scenes of rapid fire action, mind-numbing rejection and loss, violent battle, and intense passion so that the reader smells, hears and sees the action before he feels it -- it's as if the reader is reveling in his own memories. It's a rare talent, indeed, one obviously honed under pressure in smokey newsrooms where complicated stories must be written on command, with a deadline to the cacophony of standard typewriters, ringing phones, shouting editors all choreographed to the tinkling beat of Linotype machines and the persistent ticking as the clock's hands move toward deadline.
After reading the author's bio, I was well prepared for him to spin a well-organized no nonsense story stocked with good solid research and packed with historical anecdotes; Schultz caught me entirely off guard when he unexpectedly began to throw very intelligent humor into the mix.
It's a shame authors are far from readers on those occasions when they could be rewarded by the sight of a reading light reluctantly dimmed in the wee hours and the sound of giggles of surprise and glee accentuated by unattractive snorts. G. P. Schultz deserves the belly laughs, the murmurs of surprise and admiration, the sudden intake of breath as the reader's new friends fall in harm's way and the unbidden tears that fall as the book's inhabitants make their way through life in fledgling Kansas City. All are richly deserved.
Mr. Schultz, Dancing with Ghosts is waiting in my Kindle...but I'm going to savor the experience of Gully Town for a week or two before I move forward a few decades with the author as ..."everything[stays]up to date in Kansas City."
May 25, 2020
even though based on fictional characters, so clearly delineates Kansas City's beginnings, beginning back before with Quantrill's raiders and the fight for Missouri-Kansas freedom ... all the way through 1920's. wow! so MUCH happened/changed from 1850 to 1920. Just 70 short years --- well worth the read
September 8, 2011
I won this book for free via Goodreads Giveaways.
This was an amazing book. I can't say enough good things about it. 10 stars! I felt like I was part of the book. I am not a big "history" book fan, but this book made me fall in love with history and Kansas City. Perfectly written. So many parts made me cry and laugh and was really just a fun read. Did not want to put it down, but had to since I have kids. :) Not a big political fan but also confirmed my own observation in life that Republicans are scum, seems they started out that way and continue on. The history, politics and story were all excellent!
This was an amazing book. I can't say enough good things about it. 10 stars! I felt like I was part of the book. I am not a big "history" book fan, but this book made me fall in love with history and Kansas City. Perfectly written. So many parts made me cry and laugh and was really just a fun read. Did not want to put it down, but had to since I have kids. :) Not a big political fan but also confirmed my own observation in life that Republicans are scum, seems they started out that way and continue on. The history, politics and story were all excellent!
February 3, 2017
G.P. Schultz's book "Gully Town: A Novel of Kansas City" was published by Shadow Mountain Press in 1990. The book is about two young Irish male immigrants and a male Texas orphan who arrive together in Kansas City to make their fortune. They are befriended by Kansas City natives, marry beautiful/interesting women, and they directly influence many of the major historical events in Kansas City from the American Civil War to the declaration of World War 1 in 1915. The book is an entertaining fictional history for readers familiar with Kansas City geography, boss politics, and cultural mores of the Western frontier.
August 7, 2011
I won this as a Goodreads giveaway. Parts of it reminded me of The Immigrants, parts reminded me of Lonesome Dove, and parts reminded me of The Godfather, but it wasn't as well written as any of those. I found the style somewhat simplistic and the dialogue pretty artificial at times. While I enjoyed learning about Kansas City history from the Civil War through the period just prior to the Great Depression, at points the plot seemed forced and the characters were stereotypes designed to deliver that history. It was enjoyable, but not great.
January 16, 2013
Had some factual errors in it.
April 6, 2015
I love history and especially of my beloved KC area. I did cry at the end as I fell in love with the characters like some others did. Overall..a great historical fiction!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews