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.

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

a smoke jensen book..whats not to like....but this one centres around his children louis and denny

louis is a newly qualified lawyer and he wants to start his new practise in big rock and not at his fathers homestead

its a slow start but when a fight breaks out outside of his practise louis goes to investigate

two neighbouring outfits are about to go to war over the fencing around a waterhole...each claiming its on their land...tension is high and louis has his work cut out for him trying to settling it all down

and along with denny help louis tries his best to help both ranchers

brilliantly written, love how the story flows and with smoke jensen making guest appearances throughout the storyline but love how this one centred around louis and denny and their talents

All of the original Smoke Jensen books are excellent. So often, when an author tries to move from the original character to their relatives or kids, it loses the momentum of the original. I'm happy to say, that isn't the case here. Dark Night in Big Rock (Pinnacle Books 2022), Book 5 of the Jensen Brand, deals with Smoke's two twin children, Louis, a newly graduated lawyer who's returned to Big Rock to set up a practice, and Denny, the heir apparent to Smoke's ranch, Sugarloaf. Louis is eager for new clients, but doesn't want to rely on his famous father's law work or his friends. He becomes involved with two men with ranches that border each other who are fighting over their property lines. Louis is not a seasoned lawyer but feels by applying his prodigious and Harvard-honed mental power, he can unravel the mystery of who owns what before a full-blown range war breaks out. You'll have to read this book to see if he manages to do that before too many innocent folks are killed.

This is a typical excellent Johnstone Old West book--fast, feel-good, and with characters you like. And, if you like a little romance in your Western, you'll find that here, too.  Highly recommended for those who love a good Western.

The Jensen family story has become a favorite of many readers of the Johnstone series of books. This latest effort, “Dark Night in Big Rock,” is a little bit different. It is focusing on the next generation and having Smoke Jensen’s children involved in the main storyline.

The unconventional, for the times, daughter Denise (Denny) and the traditional son, Louis make for a formidable pair but is ways that are different from the older generation of Jensens. This story has Louis returning to Big Rock as a certified lawyer.

While a lot of his legal work will be focused on the Sugarloaf, the Jensen ranch, there seems to be a range war brewing over water rights. Riparian issues have always been touchy in the west because where is water there is life…including cattle.

Add in a convicted criminal sentenced to hang, some relatives who are not as they seem, a love triangle or maybe a rectangle, maniacal jealousy, and you have a book that will hold your attention and keep the reader entertained until the end when everything gets sorted out in a rather unusual way by unexpected players getting involved.

Another great piece of Western Fiction by Johnstone in his Dark Night in Big Rock. I am giving it five stars.

Dark Night in Big Rock by William W. Johnstone and J. A. Johnstone is the latest in the series about the Jensen family. I really like the fact that these books generally is set around the year 1900 it gives a new dimension to the classic western and it's so damned well done. We see the differences between the older and the younger generations as times move on. We also get to see how the older folks deal with new inventions, such as telephones, automobiles, elevators and new weaponry. I just love this stuff. In this book we have some of the usual western stuff bad guys on the path of revenge, a range war and some shady characters swindling people of there money. We also get some real good shootouts and some fisticuffs. I had a blast reading this book that hits the bookstores in the end of March. I am thankful that @kensingtonbooks @netgalley and #Pinnacle gave me this advance copy and @williamw.j.a.johnstone for writing it. #NetGalley #Kensington #DarkNightInBigRock #WilliamWJohnstone #JAJohnstone #Western #TheJensenBrand