The Man from Blood Gulch  -----   5 *****

This new series by the Johnstone syndicate has a good character in Garret McCoy. An orphaned boy who becomes a bounty hunter and gets to relive his observation of his family being killed and looks for revenge.  In this story, McCoy collects bounties and comes face-to-face with a town with two opposing oligarchs.  The saloon in the town is neutral territory.

McCoy whose nickname is "Ghost" has his work cut out for him as he tries to right previous wrongs and keep future wrongs from happening.  All is not  roses as there are folks he cares about who are wounded and even killed.  But in typical Western fashion the basic goodness wins in the end but it is a rocky road filled with bumps.

I enjoyed the fast read and would tell other readers of Westerns they probably will like it too.  The characters are not too shallow as sometimes happens in Western stories with the stereotyping.

 The Hanging Party----5 stars  *****

The Johnstone group has another good series going with this one about Jon Gage aka Texas Lightening.  He grew up in a trying situation living with an alcoholic father after his mother had gone.  He was a sensitive boy and not one that his father understood.  One of the things that Gage got good at was wielding a gun.

It wasn't that he liked doing it but it seemed to come his way even when he tried to avoid it.  He developed a wide-ranging reputation as the Texas Lightening, which is where he hailed from. After being on his own he got rid of the family farm since there was little equity left in it and moved on.  But that pesky reputation followed him and there was always someone who thought they were faster on the draw...not!!

It came to a head in one of the dusty trail towns when once again he was called out and then after he was the faster draw, he was forced into a killing to save his own life.  The set Jon on a different path and he tried to hide from his past as he never wanted to kill again.

Enter a drying up mining town, a crooked freighter, some hired guns, and an evil wanna-be business tycoon and you find Jon in the next chapter of his life.  He has been successful in not wearing or drawing a gun for several years but here the evil was so strong, and he was determined to help right some wrongs.  This is the thrust of this story: the clash of his desire to help versus his self-imposed restrictions on using his gun.  Which part of Jon will win and what will be the consequences for whichever course of action he takes?  Herein lies the story and it is a good one and one I definitely recommend very highly.  I look forward to reading more about Jon Gage and he struggles with his past and his future.

 Purgatory Crossing --  4 stars * * * * 

Having some history with hostile natives, Nathan Stark has made it his job to try to help prevent marauders from killing innocents; the way they did with his family.  His experience in the American Civil War has made him a hard man but one who seems to be interested in justice...but that is sometimes conflicted.

He joins with a member of the Crow tribe, Moses Red Buffalo, to hunt down marauders and deal frontier justice to those who would hurt innocents.  But he also has some background where all natives as well as people of color are not well trusted.  This inner conflict is seen again and again in his dealings along the trail.  But he would be the first to tell you that Moses Red Buffalo is his best friend.  Something that might not be expected given his background.

Stark and Red Buffalo are excellent trackers and are tasked with a tracking and retrieval job for some kidnapped Navajo children, a brother and sister, being held by one of the Geronimo Apache bands in frontier Arizona.  As might be expected the Apache will not take kindly to this rescue.  But others also come into play including scalp hinters and Mexican cavalry. The rescue is a key in limiting the Apache-problem but the Navajo chief, father of the kidnapped children, will not join the hunt for the Apache until the children are found.

The book is an adventure and a fun read.

 Preachers Strike -- 5 stars  

Preacher’s Strike by the Johnstone syndicate is a different story than many of the Preacher-series stories.  In this book, Preacher (no relation to an actual clergy member) is asked to accompany a member of the European nobility (Geoffrey Fitzwarren) of a small duchy to find the daughter of the ruling family.  She had left, of her own volition, with a lothario to explore in America’s west.  All is not as it seems with the “love tryst” and it is up to Preacher and his Horse and Dog along with some trusted allies to intervene.

Preacher and Fitzwarren hire some men to accompany them on a trip westward where they hope to find Charlotte, the noble woman.  What they do not know is that a less than respectable character named Knox also has been listening to their plans and has hatched a nefarious one of his own that has nothing to do with Miss Charlotte.  It is to capture and hold for ransom the noble Fitzwarren.  Knox’s gang is comprised mostly of uncouth cutthroats but one man, Bellamy, might have a glimmer of honesty.  If he does, he may be the only path of salvation for Preacher and members of his group.

Throw in some disgruntled Teton Sioux who are easily offended and there is a triangle of danger being formed.  How will the angles work out?  Well to see it will be necessary to read the story, which I recommend.  It is a quick and easy read that I found hard to put down once I started it.

 I’m Here to Kill You  --- 5 stars

I’m Here to Kill You is a twofer—two books in one (Brutal Night of the Mountain Man & Venom of the Mountain Man).  Both deal with a favorite Johnstone character: Smoke Jensen.  Jensen is a major ranch owner of the Sugarloaf in Colorado. Each of the books also deal with rather cruel men who happen to also be criminals who underestimate Smoke (aka Kirby) Jensen.

In “Brutal Night” the character is Silas Atwood who is determined to take over all the businesses in town…he already owns most of them.  But the saloon owner, Kate Coldane, does not want to sell the bar she and her late husband started. Atwood does not care and own the local law.  It is little reason to doubt that Kate’s son, Rusty, is forced into a gunfight when he is really a classical pianist just helping his mother out by doing saloon piano.  Although many witnesses would testify that he shot in self-defense, the corrupt Atwood, sheriff, and judge have found him guilty and sentenced him to hang, unless Kate sell Atwood her saloon.

Enter Smoke and his two sidekicks, Cal Wood and Pearlie also know as Wes Fontaine, who happens to be Kate’s long-lost brother.  This is where the fun begins as various, intriguing happenings take place.

Book 2 “Venom” sees a similar story but this one from an Irish mobster who is run out of NYC and heads west to take over a small town.  Enter shootings, kidnappings, murders, strange bedfellows as Smoke once again with his prime partners and friends seek to right wrongs.  This story involves Smoke’s lovely wife Sally, who is kidnapped and held for ransom in New York City by other Irish gang members.

Smoke is not to be denied his righteous anger as he goes after the culprits.  A few bad men develop a conscious but it is too little too late, but the large gang is dispersed one-by-one including one by a resourceful fourteen year-old teenager rescuing a group of five other youngsters.  In addition to setting them free, he gains a girlfriend!!

A delightful dual read and well worth the time and effort and Storm shows once again why he is feared by the bad, loved by the good, and respected by almost everyone with whom he interacts!!  Good read.

 Blood Bounty of the Mountain Man  -- 5 stars

The beginning of this book, Blood Bounty of the Mountain Man began rather slowly and seemed like another story amount the famous Smoke Jensen.  It didn’t take long for the authors to get into the interesting part of the story beginning with Smoke being involved in doing good for others.

This led to an injury that caused amnesia.  But the basic nature of the man always comes through and although he resorted to an old alias, he had used in his earlier crime fighting--Buck West. He was still definitely on the side of good even if he didn’t know who he was.

Being in several delicate situations concerning the fairer sex as well as the local crime boss, let him to wonder what was happening.  The story unfolds rather rapidly.  What he doesn’t realize that the love of his life, Sally, was pining for him back on his huge range, Sugarloaf.

How does he find out who he is when he hears about an outlaw claiming to be the famous Smoke Jensen and robbing and killing right and left?  The story comes to a dramatic conclusion when the townspeople in Last Change Spring decide to stand up and take back their town.

The dramatic conclusion happens with Smoke meets Smoke in a deadly gun battle.  One Smoke will survive but which one?  Fun read.

 The Whip Hand -- 3 stars

Reading "The Whip Hand," the idea of a bullwhip came to mind.  Well not so -- in this book, it refers to a fast draw!  It is Hunter Buchanan, a former Confederate soldier in the recent Civil Way, who is the Whip Hand.  Along with his father, Angus, and an orphaned boy Nate, Hunter and his hard won wife Anna are trying to make a go of it on a Box-Bar-B Ranch.  Hard work has been needed to get to this point but this effort is paying off in the sale of 10 of their most beautiful horses for $200 each..

Thrown in with the $2,000, a number of outlaws and various other criminals who want either money, horses, a woman, or all of the above and you have a story to read about.  At first, the novel starts pretty slowly and is sort of boring and very cliched with character development.  The storyline is so predictable adding to the boredom.  However, as a Hunter's wife is kidnapped, his beating, and other shootings happen, the story seems to get better; perhaps the reader just gets used to the cliched action.  Most Westerns have the good guys win in the end and this is not really different but the intervening action seems stilted at times. Don't forget the marauding grizzly, money from a train robbery, Pinkerton agents on the case, and a one-armed man along with an orphan, leading a second story plot up mountain terrain.

It is not an awful book but does not live up to the kind of action I am used to seeing from the Johnstone authors.  Perhaps different ghost writers?  Not sure about that.  I did not hate the story at the end but in the beginning almost said no to continuing. Not the best of the Johnstone family output, in my opinion.

 Some Die Young --5 stars *****

The Johnstone family has another hit character in John Bannack (aka John Cochran).  He is also known as the Man from Waco.  In the basic story line, John has been convicted of a crime, which he didn't commit, and sentenced to 20 years of hard labor.  He soon becomes an enforcer for a sympathetic judge and essentially has free run of the area bringing in other real criminals.

 Unfortunately, that judge who, before he died granted John a pardon after 5 years, but another judge (Grant) who for whatever reason hated John was determined to re-imprison him for the remainder of his 20-year sentence.  John suspected this might happen and he took off from the area and just decided to head west.

He stopped by to see and older brother and to say goodbye.  Then he just took off toward the setting sun with no particular place in mind.  He stopped by several places and wherever his stature and looks caused people to think him a criminal. In realty, he was a gentle giant always looking after the little people and those in need.  This caused him to get involved with a man half his size when two robbers were trying to kill him and take his wagon.  John ran them off and helped the man, who was a barber, and his wagon was carrying an honest-to-goodness real barber chair from back east.

The barber prevailed on John to come to his town where once again he had to become the salvation as a drunken man had kidnapped three women in a restaurant.  Just so happens that this Dawson boy, was the son of a notorious family of criminals who were determined on revenge and release of the kidnapper.

As you might imagine John, who had been named town marshal, took a dim view of such shenanigans, and fought back.  This struggle is the main focus of most of the book along with the notorious Judge Raymond Grant who wanted John either dead or back in prison getting involved with finding John.

A good read that is very fast and action-packed.  A good story even if cliched!  I enjoyed it.

 

 

Fort Buzzard --5 stars *****

Just about any book with Preacher, a renowned Mountain Man, is good.  Add in his longtime pal Jamie MacCallister and you've got a blockbuster.  This book is no exception -- it is just great.

Jamie and Preacher have been tasked by the Army to find out what happened in a gruesome murder of some soldiers and a surveying crew in the mountains looking for a path for a new railroad.;  The two experienced Mountain men take the job and also take an inexperienced freshly minted lieutenant to teach the ropes.in the wild west. 

Two competing businessmen want to blame the other and it is up to the newly arrived group to determine who was behind the gruesome murders of the surveyors.  Could it have been the friendly Crows aggravated at the encroachment or could it have been white men dressed at Indians?  Or even something else.

Leave it to Jamie and Preacher to figure it out, which they do.  In so doing the Johnstones have a fine story to tell.. A definitely good read and highly recommended. It goes fast as it is hard to put down.

Ode to the Lowly Tumbleweed

Oh, lonely dancer of the desert vast,

A skeletal waltz, a whimsical cast.

No roots you bind, no place you claim,

A wanderer's spirit, ever the same.

From fragile bloom to spiny frame,

The wind your guide, the wild your domain.

Across the plains, a prickly sphere,

Whispers of stories the dry wind holds dear.

 

You've seen the hawk with piercing gaze,

The coyote's song in the twilight maze.

The sun-bleached bones and ghost towns gray,

Secrets of ages whispered your way.

 

A symbol of resilience, stark and bold,

Though life is harsh, the story unfolds.

A testament to nature's grand design,

Beauty in motion, a life truly thine.

 

So roll, tumbleweed, on the dusty track,

A restless soul, never looking back.

A reminder to us, 'neath the vast, open sky,

That freedom's the song, as the moments fly.

 

--composed by Google Gemini May 2024

 Seven Hours till Dawn -- 5 stars    

This is a classic good versus evil story.  The good guy is Jim Heston and the bad one is Cord Bannen.  The story begins with a man who is moving from Texas to California along with his family to have a better life.  It is in the aftermath of the Civil War and there are lots of hurt feelings in the country.  But another golden nugget is found in California, and it just happens to be found by Jim and his father-in-law in a valley where they settled-called Donovan's Valley.

Bannen is a crafty criminal and good with a gun.  He wants gold but doesn't want to work for it other than taking it form someone who has worked hard to get it.  This criminal enterprise proves to be pretty lucrative, but the man is amoral and thinks nothing of killing whoever gets in his way.  He just wants what he wants and that is gold –stolen preferably! 

Enter the good guy, Heston, and you have the makings of an intricate dance of good and evil.  Wives, children, oldsters, retired military folks, criminals on the run, etc...you get the idea.  There is intricate storylines being woven and they all help make for a delightful Western story in the image of the Westerns of the 50s and 60s.  If this is what delights you then you will find this book excellent; I did!!

You will learn whether hard work and determination can defeat a thief and equal determination.  Not everyone will survive but who will be the last one standing?  Enjoy the read and find out.

 Dry Road to Nowhere -- 4 stars

Of all the Western stories that the Johnstone syndicate has done, the ones set in Wyoming and related to "King" Hagen are my least favorite. With that said, this one dealing with two ornery mule skinners turned stagecoach drivers is one of the better in this category. Butch Keeler and Tucker Cobb are a crew and are two men to ride the range with.  They have been friends and partners for a while now and each of them is pretty tough.

This story seems to mostly focus on Hagen and his attempts to prevent them from operating the Frontier Overland Company.  But there is a twist of a Madam Pinochet and her hired man who runs an opium den along with a beautiful lady who happens to be friend with Cobb.  They are determined to help the "King" ruin the lives of the coach drivers.

A few other examples of running through rampaging Native Americans to get to a besieged fort enter into the story as well as struggling to survive and taking on almost any job to do so.  This includes transporting some good, dark bock beer made by a German immigrant.  So, there are twists and turns.

Culminating in a trial concerning a death which some think is a murder and others think is self-defense.  Climax has some different endings than you might expect.  Not a bad overall story but still not a huge fan of this book.

 The Angry Land and Angry Avengers! [Rated 5 stars]

Following Smoke Jensen and his exploits is always fun.  In this particular episode called The Angry Land by the Johnstone syndicate, Smoke convinces his fellow ranchers to band together and ship their cattle rather than driving them to Abilene.  This will be less expensive, faster, and safer. Plus it will earn the ranchers more per head of cattle.

What the ranchers do not count on is a
bunch of train robbers who decide to waylay the train and steal the cattle and then drive them to the Dakota Black Hills where there is a very high demand for beeves...plus the wherewithal to pay for it! As it turns out this is not the first time this has occurred and some of the Cattlemen's Association in Texas are on the case.

The men that Smoke and the other ranchers sent to be their spokesmen/negotiators come under fire as the train rustlers take over the combined  herds. Two of the men are killed and the third is badly wounded.  Smoke is not about to allow this to go unanswered.

So off he goes to Abilene and here begins the adventures of him, railroad superintendent Red Winters, and the Cattlemen's Association detectives versus the outlaws and maybe an inside person supplying the information for the rustlers!  High adventures happen and not everything goes according to plan.

Questions abound: Will Smoke and crew prevail without further loss of life or cattle?  Will they be able to avenge the dead men?  How will they deal with the large band of rustlers and how will they uncover the inside agent?  All of these are good questions and if you are interested you will have to read this very entertaining and fast-paced story.  I definitely recommend it.

 Beans, Bourbon, and Blood  Been a while since I posted but this is a good story...

"Beans, Bourbon, and Blood" seemed like an interesting title but I've got to say that it did not seem to have a lot to do with the story. Even with that little bit of criticism, I found the story of Luke Jensen, bounty hunter, and his adventure with bringing a captured swindler to a little out-of-the-way town of Hannagan's Hill to await further instructions amount him fascinating and fun to read.

Jensen is a relative of the more famous Smoke Jensen and the Jensen men, all of them, seem to have a penchant for getting into trouble.  Luke is no different.  He befriends "Mac" McKenzie owner and operator of a delightful café, who has some interesting past history in New Orleans.  Add in a crusading newspaper couple, a crooked sheriff, a bought-off judge, and overbearing strongman named Hannigan, after which the town was named, and you have a heck of a story.

Story starts with Luke and his prisoner coming up on a gallows outside of town where a man was hanged and left for many days to actually rot and be picked apart by the birds.  Enter stage left the sheriff and his deputies with another prisoner bound for the noose.  The young man professes his innocence but there is little that Luke can do other than be on his way to town; although he feels bad about doing it. He proclaims that the only reason he is here is that Hannigan wants his ranch land and he was unwilling to relinquish it. 

The story evolves from there with Luke getting involved with a saloon owner, the café owner, another bounty hunter, the newspaper publisher, and others to attempt to right the wrong that is happening in Hannigan's Hill.  The denouement comes to a blazing conclusion with the various factions arrayed against each other.  There will be blood in the streets and the opportunity to turn a new leaf for many people.  The question is who will take the opportunity?  "Gotta" read the book to find out but if you like western stories, this is a very good one and one that will hold your attention. I definitely recommend reading this Johnstone book.