William and J.A. Johnstone’s book Stand Up and Die is about as quintessential a western as you can find. There are all sorts of actions that one would expect to find in a novel set in the rough and tumble old west including a shootout at a whorehouse, an escaping prisoner while a marshal gets killed, a hanging, an Indian fight, and many more.
This is a fast-paced book that sort of gets started slowly as each of the three main characters, loving called jackals, makes their place in the story known. They come together to transport two prisoners, one of which is a lovely woman but who has a penchant for poisoning people who cause her trouble.
During the transport a young Comanche who was helped by one
of the jackals and affectionately called Wooden Arm along with the rest take it
on themselves to dispatch a few bad guys who have been trailing one of the
jackals to kill him and then they get caught in supporting a wagon train set
upon by some scoundrels pretending to be Indians. They are actually in Navajo territory and this
leads to some interesting consequences along with the fact that Wooden Arm is
being trailed by other Comanche. Fake Indians and real tribesmen lead to
interesting interactions.
Lots of adventure and a fast-moving storyline makes this an
easy read after all the players get introduced, which happened pretty slowly
and in a sort of disjointed fashion in the beginning of the book. It was a
little different from other Johnstone books that I’ve read and thoroughly
enjoyed.
Stand Up and Die by William
W. Johnstone, J.A. Johnstone. #StandUpandDie #NetGalley
