CW: Lynching

No gun. No horse. No water or food.

That is how this western started, when our last Mountain Man, Matt Jensen, woke up. He was in the desert when he did, and he started to remember that he was helping a couple who was targeted by some horse rustlers, thieves-basically the first thing I thought of when the “bad guys” appeared in this novel was “oh no, here come the republicans” (have no idea why I thought that.) But as I read on and saw how they did what they did to their competitors, I was wholly shocked as hell. Like WTF??? You lynched a couple and falsely accuse them of stealing some cows that wandered over to their farm, using the paper to put out a false story about the couple that got married a couple weeks ago and was living happily.

And don’t get me started on the judge that O’Neil and Kennedy was bribing to let the ones that did the damn lynching go. That pissed me off to high heaven when they did that because the judge was letting them off scott free. And then the worst thing they can do was hire someone called the Undertaker, to try and take out Matt, only to turn around and have Matt kill him.

This is gonna be my shortest (and last) read of 2020, so I’ll say that I did enjoy it, but I just didn’t like the lynching part of it, it just made me mad.

I have read and enjoyed other books from the Matt Jensen: The Last Mountain Man series and Die with the Oulaws does not disappoint. A great read. Five stars.

Matt Jensen I think is one of my favorite of the Johnstone characters, this book has a good amount of action and adventure. It has what I was looking for in a western book and I always enjoy reading a Johnstone Western.

Any book with William and JA Johnstone as the author is guaranteed to be a good book that lets you escape into the old west and leave the laundry until later. Each series has an anchor character, this one is Matt Jenson, son of another Johnstone character, Smoke Jensen. Matt Jensen's story is a cross between the mountain men and western settings that the Johnstones are famous for writing.
Matt's story has him travelling the west after picking up stakes to provide his particular brand of security during a horse drive to market. The easy job he thought he was signing on for becomes a different kind of fight every day as the drive faces challenges on all fronts. But being a Jensen means our hero has more skills than the bad guys thought. The adventure is set in well defined, descriptive, back stories of wealth vs the rest of the world. Matt becomes the equalizer that lets the good guys battle to win. An outstanding story that was exciting from start to finish.

Sorry this one seems to have vanished off my reader before I could get to it. I was interested as I like horses. I'll look out for the book.

One of the best known names in writings in the westerns by William Johnstone is Jensen. In this case it is Matt who is the star of the book,Die with the Outlaws; he is a drifter who travels to various places where there is a need for someone to act and ends up helping folks live better lives, . The storyline of the book is not exactly the norm, although there are parts that are found in almost every western novel. There are certainly good guys and bad ones. But here we have a person of color being introduced into the western story. This was not at all unheard of to find a black man in the west but is a bit unusual in books of this genre and time. This man is named Isaac and to add some intrigue, he was trained as a lawyer but basically prejudice prevents him from practicing. He will play a pivotal role in setting things right.

The good guys in this story are ranchers in a valley in Sweetwater, Wyoming that is being harassed by two wealthy and influential men. Their sole purpose seems to be to take over the entire valley and drive out, through any means the rest of the ranchers and farmers in the area. This includes murder, even though they would not deign to get their hands dirty with that business. Through a series of calamities that causes several of the valley inhabitants to leave, the one man and his wife are faced with some difficult decisions as their horses are being rustled. The sheriff is not a bad man but is cowed by the two powerful men to the extent that he has deputized a gang of ruffians called the Regulators to enforce the peace. These are a bunch of ne’er-do-wells led by a disgraced former policeman from Missouri.

A letter to a sister leads to a good friend who contacts Matt Jensen for help. Jensen is a really fast gunman but one who uses his skill and speed for good, unlike some gunfighters of the day. A series of incidents that are interspersed with in the normal day to day life lead some of the people to decide to pack up and leave and some are guilty and executed by the “legally questionable” Regulators. This type of going on does not sit well with Matt and he inserts himself into the fray. This does not earn him any good will from the wealthy ranchers or their hired-hands, the Regulators. A couple of gunfights establish Jensen’s supremacy and this leads to fear on the wealthy ranchers part and causes them to hire a tough gunslinger nicknamed the Undertaker. Obviously the story revolves around the upcoming gunfight between these two.

The power of the press comes into play as does former friendships. The story builds to a climax that sees killings, erstwhile bad people converting, marriages, and in generally folks setting up to live happily ever after. In this regard the book follows the traditional western genre – bad men, good men, conflict, setbacks for the good guys, evil is overcome, and good triumphs. But even in triumph, there is loss and pain.

The book is a good read and a quick one. The character development shows complexity and strength and weakness all rolled together in the storyline. An enjoyable way to spend a couple of lazy afternoons on the sofa reading and enjoying what is developing.

In Die with the Outlaws (Pinnacle 2020), Book 11 in the Matt Jensen/Last Mountain Man series, Matt Jensen, the adopted son of Smoke Jensen, is an itinerant wanderer, cowboy, former-Mountain-Man, and reliable friend to those he cares about. He’s a hard worker but simply can’t make himself put down roots. When a friend of a friend needs to get a herd of horses to market, Matt agrees to help. He is between jobs and this is just the type of job that appeals to him. It should be quick, easy, and safe, except it turns out to be none of those. To get the horses to market he must first stop the rustlers trying to steal them and fix the town law that isn't fixing the problem. Really, not that hard for a Jensen.

Though not Smoke Jensen's blood, Matt Jensen in every way is the hard driving strong willed talented member of the Jensen family. He can't turn his back on injustice and will always be there for a friend in need. His adventures always make for great reading. Highly recommended for fans of the Western genre.

It has been a while since the last book about Matt Jensen, now it's here and it's all the typical action an adventures you are used to in a western. Some dodgy ranchers wants to take over the valley at the expense of the small farms. Enter Matt Jenssen the hero created by William W. Johnstone and continued by J-.A. Johnstone in Die With the Outlaws. Entertaining and straightforward western. Than you Netgalley, Kensington Books and Pinnacle for letting me escape the world for a couple of hours.

I get lost in adventure when I read any books for Mr Johnstone. This book has Smoke battling regulators, outlaws, the terrain and many other things that could easily kill a man in the late 1800s. What I really like about this title is its accuracy with place names and style of talking. I am not young and I can remember Grandparents talking with the same style and expression that are used in the many series and this novel. The plot took a turn that I didnt expect and the hero didnt hold back. Very enjoyable read.

I would like to thank the Author publishers and NetGalley for providing me with a Kindle copy of this book to read and honestly review.
A classic Western clever descriptive well written with all the ingredients you expect of the genre. A hero of the top order, brave handsome deadly with gun or knife, outnumbered throughout by evil baddies all action page turning entertainment.
Heartily recommended.

Thank you for the ARC. Another enjoyable read by William W Johnstone. I really do not read much western but when I do I always pick up a WWJ book. Can't go wrong with his books.