A wonderful story is full of the Western flavor of a family fighting together. Smoke has found a new love in Sally Reynolds and she has helped him get over the death of his wife and child. Now married they have returned to the ranch to start a new. She has met Preacher and the others in his life and has accepted who Smoke is, to the point of learning to shoot herself. Which comes in handy when she needs to shoot later. This is a very good story.

There is no such thing as a bad Johnstone western. Each series is built around main characters whose belief in the law and family is absolute, even if they've had to be reformed to get there. From Preacher, the original mountain man to the Jensen family to Perly Gates, to.....well, you get the point. Many times, characters from one series will show up in another as supporting hands. The communities are true to the era, clothing, guns, food and troubles are all what you'd find if you looked them up in the history books. No two stories are the same, each character or set of characters is unique and so are their stories. The writing is skillful, readers are pulled into the story and you will laugh and cry right along with the characters. I made the mistake of picking up a Johnstone western my uncle was reading. Ive been hooked ever since. Now I share them with my reading family and will continue as long as new Johnstones are released.

Outlaw Country is the third installlment from A Smoke Jensen Novel of the West series by William W. Johnstone. I loved it! Five stars.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

travelling by train with his wife smoke starts to tell his early life to a journalist who wants to know what the west was like back then

its a rough start for young smoke when his dad leaves him with preacher but its a learning curve that will see him through his life

loved this look at smokes life and times during the early western days before civilisation took over many parts...there are many highs and lows in smokes life but how he started big rock a town that grew from his idea...brilliant

baddies and indians also take part in this well written book and for fans of smoke they will love this insight into his earlier life

Don't read this book. Instead, gather the original novels, with more actual involvement by William Johnstone. Buy those first Mountain Man books and be prepared to the great enjoyment of reading.
'Outlaw Country' (An odd title) gathers a number of those books into one volume. Just rewritten. Those earlier books are well written and exciting. Less the endless droning on of excessive dialogue, watered down action and poorly rewriting of the earlier books. Why on earth this was even attempted is beyond me.

There is an excuse given a number of times throughout the book as to how this book is inconsistent with the original novels: Poor research and memories created earlier tellings of Jensen. That's too bad, because those original books are worth reading. This one is not.
Also, the reference basically kicks William Johnstone to the curb for these unknown ghost writers to cement the back story of Jensen.

The story is told in a massive flashback that makes no sense as the story is written that Smoke Jensen is remembering the story, yet written in the third person, with much written from outside the ability of Smoke Jensen to know what happened. Especially in that so much over-done dialogue is included.

Again talk, talk, talk is the bulk of the entire book. Instead of focused, concise storytelling, needless talk is throughout that doesn't move the story along.
Most of the characters are underdeveloped or assumed to be known. I'm still surprised how a Johnstone book could under-write who Louis Longmont is(!!!!). This does appear to be another Johnstone Clan novel with multiple authors writing parts and then still another assembling and attempting to link it all together.

Something that really angered me was the misspelling of Ernest Hemingway's name. Was that intentional? Why on earth do that? The ghost writer's got Hemingway's wife's name, Hadley, correct. I'd understand if the name was a quick reference. But Hemingway appears throughout as Hemingford, as are references to Hadley, his trip to Paris, his writing plans. Moreover, is the silly fiction of Smoke's wife tagging Hemingford with the "Papa" moniker. I'm scrapping an entire star off for this.

Now for the problems of the meat and potatoes of the book: For whatever reason this book was constructed, the construction starts off poorly for reasons mentioned above and the tales are oddly truncated. The Preacher & Smoke interaction in the original books shine. This one there is a bunch of banter and little of the teaching and effort to know the ways of a Mountain Men. It's almost all yapping about this and that. A big who-cares. The heart is lost in this poorly written part.

Then there is a robbery leaving one half-dead that is left hanging.
There is a massive battle that the book heads towards and written in an original novel some 35 years ago. In this, the story's direction ends in a one sentence line that there was a massive battle with many dead. That battle was significant to so much that happened later, but basically left out here.

Something similar happens in the re-writing of the ending battle of the city of Fontana. This version is winnowed to a simple gun exchange. The original version jarred me when i read it a few years ago. I'd not read before a book where so many that seemed central to a story were wiped out. Daring and original for a writer to take such chances. This version is a safe version.

That does seem to be the actual overall alteration of the original novels: To make the Smoke story safe. If I had started out reading this and not the first Mountain Man novel (Which was entirely by chance), I would not have continued on the past 6 years and now have more than 300 of Johnstone novels.

I know there are good writers in the Johnstone clan. 'Firestick' is an example of that. The Preacher series is still well done. But, more and more, the books are losing a sense of plotting and character development. Seems to me the problem there is the incessant starting of new Johnstone Clan series and not concentrating on the original series.

I could write more, but this should cover the bulk of my problems with this book. Since I'm writing this of a yet-to-be-published novel, via Net Galley, I hope the Clan can reapproach this book and work to fix it.

Bottom line: I don't recommend this book (the early version i read). 2 out of ten points.

Outlaw Country is a great summary of how Smoke met Sally and started the Sugarloaf. Most of the content is available in the early books about Kirby "Smoke" Jensen by William W. Johnstone. In this book set in 1926 they are on a boat to France where they meet a young journalist who persuades Smoke to tell the story how they met. As usual a great tale from the past. I must thank @kensingtonbooks @pinnaclepublishers and @netgalley for giving me this advance copy. Great western.

First book by this author that I've read and won't hesitate to recommend to others. Good mix of adventure in the west with a bit of romance sprinkled in. Jumped back and forth between older and younger version of the main character, so had some idea of what might happen along the way, but enough suspense that you didn't quite know how the author would get you from point A to point B.

One of the most famous characters in the William and J.A. Johnstone’s stories is Kirby “Smoke” Jensen. This is the third book in the series, but it gives the back story of Smoke’s life to this time. He is on a ship heading to Paris with his second wife, Sally. He becomes friends with a reporter who is not interested in news but human-interest stories.

He is enticed to tell his story from the beginning where his mother dies, and his father gets murdered. A friendly mountain man named Preacher takes over the training of the young whippersnapper ensuring that he learns well all the skill needed by a person vowing revenge on the murderous gang who murdered his father.

While under Preacher’s tutelage he meets and falls in love the lovely Nicole who is left alive after a savage attach on her and her families wagon heading westward. It is not an immediate love story btu they become enamored with each other and get married in a most unusual way. Preacher does a lot of away time rambling his beloved mountains. Nicole and Smoke conceive a baby boy who they name Art after Preacher’s given name – Arthur. Preacher will be the grandpa to the baby. Tragedy befalls the new family.

Rather than go into more detail in the review, read the book to learn the sad story of the passing of Nicole and baby Art and what Stone does to avenge them. It is a little gruesome but in the ways of the old West appropriate.

Smoke keeps the stories of his life coming to the reporter including his meeting and wedding Sally; their founding of the Sugarloaf ranch including how he becomes a renown purveyor of good horseflesh. He becomes a founder of a town and owner of a railroad. As might be expected because of the legends of Smoke’s speed and accuracy with a pistol, there are numerous bad people who want to kill him. Some just to gain more of a reputation with the gun and others to avoid his legendary temper for committing some nefarious deed to Smoke or the ones he loved. Smoke does not forget wrongs against him or his loved ones.

Smoke’s story here is one that puts all the various pieces together and is very entertaining and instructive in getting the story all in one place. I definitely recommend this book.

I wish to thank NetGalley and Kensington Publishers for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book. I have voluntarily read and reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

If you like a good western novel full of villains and gun fights and good guys against bad guys and handsome heroes and beautiful heroines than look no further. This one has it all. Smoke Jensen and his wife Sally have established a homestead. They are trying to make a life for themselves but Smoke’s earlier life as a gunslinger keeps interrupting it. You learn a good deal about life in the West and the time of the early settlers. You learn about the coming of the railroad and its influence on the lives of the townspeople. Smoke teaches Sally to defend herself which comes in handy in the story. You love the good guys and boo the bad ones. That is what we are supposed to do isn’t it?

Thank you, William and J. A. Johnstone, for an enjoyable book.

I have really enjoyed the western tales that William W. and J.A. Johnstone have written. The Outlaw Country has been no exception! Loved it!

The story takes place as in an interview setting while traveling on a ship with Smoke, Sally, and a journalist, the later whom desires to be filled in on some details of Smoke and Sally’s life so he can write about it.

Well paced, interesting, humorous, smart...page after page, I enjoyed it all! Most especially learning more about Sally’s character- she is indeed a woman who is not to be trifled with, nor underestimated. Smoke still seeks peace, but he will not tolerate evil, and when justice needs to be done, he aims in that direction to get it done! A well balanced plot with colorful characters, held my attention from first to last page.

This is my favorite Johnstone novel to date (it’s on my favorites shelf too). But I realize it’s just the tip of the iceberg with many more to read. I sincerely look forward to each and every one of them. This is an absolute solid 5 Stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for this outstanding ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Besides Johnstone's Preacher character, Smoke Jensen--Preacher's kinda-son--is my favorite. He's strong, moral and just, and not afraid to stand up for what's right. He became a man under Preacher's tutelage, not in schools but in life. As Preacher says:

“I live in the high lonesome.” “Where is the high lonesome?” “It ain’t so much of a where as it is a thing. It’s whistling wind and the silence of the mountains."

Johnstone's Outlaw Country (Pinnacle 2021), a Smoke Jensen novel, is a collection of memories shared by an older Smoke Jensen while traveling with his wife Sally across the ocean to Paris. Their first night aboard the ship, they have dinner with a journalist who persuades Smoke to share stories about how he became a legend of the Old West. These include:

How Smoke got his name
How he avenged the death of his father and brother
How he met his first wife and then his second and last wife, Sally
Sally's story of her early life with smoke
How Smoke started the town of Big Rock
How his close-as-family cowhand, Pearlie, came to work for Smoke.

If you're a Smoke Jensen fan (like I am), this is an essential book for your collection. Highly recommended also for those who love tales of the Old West and how it was won.