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Betrayals
At the dawn of the twenty-fourth century, with colonies spanning fifty star systems, mankind has created the Confederation of Allied Worlds. When trouble erupts, the Confed’s solution is swift, savage, and supremely effective: dispatch small teams of elite warriors. Deadly fighters like Tex. . . .
As one of the most decorated soldiers in the Confederation’s arsenal, Tex has survived covert operations in every steaming hellhole. As a result, he knows more than enough about the Confed’s most brutal and amoral activities, which makes him wonder: Is it mere coincidence that all missions assigned to veteran teams seem to be suicide missions?
Fortunately, the new assignment doesn’t have the markings of a lethal affair. Tex is dispatched to the Ulysses star system, a backwater group of inconsequential planets populated with misfits and malcontents. What he doesn’t know is that this lowly cluster secretly harbors perhaps the greatest threat ever faced by the Confederation. Worse yet, the shadowy Protectorate behind the mission intends to make certain Tex does not survive.
But Tex hasn’t earned his reputation as a well-honed killing machine for nothing. . . .
Brute Force, Xbox, and the Xbox Logos are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Used under license. Copyright © 2002 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
As one of the most decorated soldiers in the Confederation’s arsenal, Tex has survived covert operations in every steaming hellhole. As a result, he knows more than enough about the Confed’s most brutal and amoral activities, which makes him wonder: Is it mere coincidence that all missions assigned to veteran teams seem to be suicide missions?
Fortunately, the new assignment doesn’t have the markings of a lethal affair. Tex is dispatched to the Ulysses star system, a backwater group of inconsequential planets populated with misfits and malcontents. What he doesn’t know is that this lowly cluster secretly harbors perhaps the greatest threat ever faced by the Confederation. Worse yet, the shadowy Protectorate behind the mission intends to make certain Tex does not survive.
But Tex hasn’t earned his reputation as a well-honed killing machine for nothing. . . .
Brute Force, Xbox, and the Xbox Logos are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Used under license. Copyright © 2002 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
288 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
1 person is currently reading
66 people want to read
About the author
Dean Wesley Smith
822 books177 followersPen Names
Edward Taft
Dee W. Schofield
Sandy Schofield
Kathryn Wesley
Dean Wesley Smith is the bestselling author of over ninety novels under many names and well over 100 published short stories. He has over eight million copies of his books in print and has books published in nine different countries. He has written many original novels in science fiction, fantasy, mystery, thriller, and romance as well as books for television, movies, games, and comics. He is also known for writing quality work very quickly and has written a large number of novels as a ghost writer or under house names.
With Kristine Kathryn Rusch, he is the coauthor of The Tenth Planet trilogy and The 10th Kingdom. The following is a list of novels under the Dean Wesley Smith name, plus a number of pen names that are open knowledge. Many ghost and pen name books are not on this list because he is under contractual obligations not to disclose that he wrote them. Many of Dean’s original novels are also under hidden pen names for marketing reasons.
Dean has also written books and comics for all three major comic book companies, Marvel, DC, and Dark Horse, and has done scripts for Hollywood. One movie was actually made.
Over his career he has also been an editor and publisher, first at Pulphouse Publishing, then for VB Tech Journal, then for Pocket Books.
Currently, he is writing thrillers and mystery novels under another name.
Edward Taft
Dee W. Schofield
Sandy Schofield
Kathryn Wesley
Dean Wesley Smith is the bestselling author of over ninety novels under many names and well over 100 published short stories. He has over eight million copies of his books in print and has books published in nine different countries. He has written many original novels in science fiction, fantasy, mystery, thriller, and romance as well as books for television, movies, games, and comics. He is also known for writing quality work very quickly and has written a large number of novels as a ghost writer or under house names.
With Kristine Kathryn Rusch, he is the coauthor of The Tenth Planet trilogy and The 10th Kingdom. The following is a list of novels under the Dean Wesley Smith name, plus a number of pen names that are open knowledge. Many ghost and pen name books are not on this list because he is under contractual obligations not to disclose that he wrote them. Many of Dean’s original novels are also under hidden pen names for marketing reasons.
Dean has also written books and comics for all three major comic book companies, Marvel, DC, and Dark Horse, and has done scripts for Hollywood. One movie was actually made.
Over his career he has also been an editor and publisher, first at Pulphouse Publishing, then for VB Tech Journal, then for Pocket Books.
Currently, he is writing thrillers and mystery novels under another name.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 23, 2025
A book that didn't draw as much on my nostalgia as I would have liked, and never distinguished itself in any meaningful way. 3/5 stars (leaning on 2.75).
I am a big Brute Force fan. I have many fond memories of playing that game with my friends, and I am sad I never got a sequel. I borrowed this book from a friend and was excited to jump in considering how I felt about the game. This book is positioned as a prequel to the games, and can be read as a standalone. Unfortunately, I think it suffers from the typical prequel trap and was unable to distinguish itself from the confines of the wider story. My other issues with the book also led me to enjoy this less than I would have liked, and nostalgia simply didn't win out. Even as a fan of the game, it would be hard for me to recommend this book to anyone.
The writing in this book, to me, was not particularly good. I'm no prose snob by any means, but the style is very dry and doesn't provide much detail in ways of description or scenery. Most of it relies on general understanding of sci-fi and simplistic imagination. The beginning is especially rough around the edges. It eventually finds some consistency and you get used to it enough that you stop paying attention.
The characters are really mixed. There were a couple of funny moments with them, and even in the original Brute Force were a bit formulaic. None of that felt overly done, so it never became distracting. My main issue is related to some of the decision making. Later in the story (no spoilers), there are a couple of decisions made that don't seem to make logical sense given what's happened. This is an example of the prequel trap where the character has to end in a specific place, so you sort of shoehorn them into that at the end. This wasn't overly frustrating, but does have you rolling your eyes.
The plot in this novel is pretty generic. The villain has simple motivations, and the overarching plot is formulaic that you can easily guess where it's going. If you enjoy very generic sci-fi action stories with not much depth, you'd find a similar experience here. That sounds overly harsh, which is not my intention. It's more that there's no real twists or originality here to distinguish itself from any other action story. That let me down a bit considering there's a whole universe to explore.
I'm sad about this experience. I really wanted this to hit me right in the feels. Sadly, it never grabbed me in any meaningful way. Not even the nostalgia drew enough from me. I'm glad some others had a better experience. But, even with a Brute Force lover, I'm not sure I can recommend it.
Quick hits:
+ Fans of Brute Force will find some things here to tickle your love of the game.
+ A fine enough experience, not bad that you'll regret it.
+/- The writing is not particularly engaging.
- The characters lack depth, and are formulaic.
- The plot is very generic and never does anything different.
I am a big Brute Force fan. I have many fond memories of playing that game with my friends, and I am sad I never got a sequel. I borrowed this book from a friend and was excited to jump in considering how I felt about the game. This book is positioned as a prequel to the games, and can be read as a standalone. Unfortunately, I think it suffers from the typical prequel trap and was unable to distinguish itself from the confines of the wider story. My other issues with the book also led me to enjoy this less than I would have liked, and nostalgia simply didn't win out. Even as a fan of the game, it would be hard for me to recommend this book to anyone.
The writing in this book, to me, was not particularly good. I'm no prose snob by any means, but the style is very dry and doesn't provide much detail in ways of description or scenery. Most of it relies on general understanding of sci-fi and simplistic imagination. The beginning is especially rough around the edges. It eventually finds some consistency and you get used to it enough that you stop paying attention.
The characters are really mixed. There were a couple of funny moments with them, and even in the original Brute Force were a bit formulaic. None of that felt overly done, so it never became distracting. My main issue is related to some of the decision making. Later in the story (no spoilers), there are a couple of decisions made that don't seem to make logical sense given what's happened. This is an example of the prequel trap where the character has to end in a specific place, so you sort of shoehorn them into that at the end. This wasn't overly frustrating, but does have you rolling your eyes.
The plot in this novel is pretty generic. The villain has simple motivations, and the overarching plot is formulaic that you can easily guess where it's going. If you enjoy very generic sci-fi action stories with not much depth, you'd find a similar experience here. That sounds overly harsh, which is not my intention. It's more that there's no real twists or originality here to distinguish itself from any other action story. That let me down a bit considering there's a whole universe to explore.
I'm sad about this experience. I really wanted this to hit me right in the feels. Sadly, it never grabbed me in any meaningful way. Not even the nostalgia drew enough from me. I'm glad some others had a better experience. But, even with a Brute Force lover, I'm not sure I can recommend it.
Quick hits:
+ Fans of Brute Force will find some things here to tickle your love of the game.
+ A fine enough experience, not bad that you'll regret it.
+/- The writing is not particularly engaging.
- The characters lack depth, and are formulaic.
- The plot is very generic and never does anything different.
June 14, 2021
Brute Force: Betrayals by Dean Wesley Smith is a video game prequel tie-in novel based on the 2002 Xbox sci-fi game Brute Force. BruteForce: Betrayal, is set in a Far future 24th century where a human empire called the Confederacy Of Allied Worlds holds an uneasy peace over various star systems and worlds. The Confederacy best weapon keeping this peace are various teams of special soldiers called Brute Force teams. Three of these soldiers known as Tex, Hawk and, Flint are among the best. When various alien religious artifacts turn up during their missions. BruteForce members Tex, Hawk, and, Flint find them selves caught in a web of conspiracy and betrayal that could not just impact them, but the Confederacy as well. Brute force is a fun, light read. It is not deep and lacks some character development. I was hoping that the book would reveal more detail of the character's history; but it did not. It lets us down in that department. But the action makes up for It- kinda feels like a comic book because the action is off the wall is some parts. In the first mission "Tex" and his team demolish a group of pirates inside their base and steal their money. Later on he cooperatively works with a scout named "Hawk" who is able to make herself invisable. And an android named "Flint" also joins in; it can sharp-shoot with a sniper rifle with deadly accuracy. The story and action-packed pacing is what makes it entertaining and good if you are bored. And the ending is shocking. Overall, I recommend it if you want something fun to read and you like a light Military Sci-fi read.
December 26, 2024
Played the game on Xbox back in the day. It was such a nostalgic read. A lot of fun down memory lane. This is a prequel to the story in the game. Wouldn’t recommend unless you played the game. I was never a fan of playing Tex in game but he was my favorite character in the book. If I ever pull the game back out I’ll probably chose him most the time because of it.
February 10, 2016
If I were a developer of the video game, this book would insult me. The writing is questionable. The author probably never played Brute Force. The universe is not at all respected. Smith has failed to pick up the personality of the main characters. In the video game, my favorite character is Tex. This book's Tex is a fraud. Another element that made me angry: weapons. Except the minigun, none of them is mentioned. The author used generic words instead of their names. The characters created by the author, the main villains for example, have no charisma whatsoever.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews