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.

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.

This volume by members of the Johnstone Clan covers territory covered before, but not as well.
This one has Johnstone characters investigating troubles at a place called 'Fort Buzzard' (or something like it). Unfortunately, after arrival to the fort, the course set is pretty obvious along with the conclusion. There are some red herrings, but not well thought out. I'm more than glad the johnstone Clan endless line of books haven some placing characters in, basically, a detective role. The approach adds to the interest and suspense. In this case, a better plotting would've helped.

Still, the story is good and, otherwise, worth reading. Though, there are other Johnstone Clan books that do a better job in writing and plotting similar tales.

Bottom line: I recommend this book. 5 out of ten points.
This book was made available by Netgalley.com for an honest review.

Jamie MacAllister and Preacher are two of my favorite characters created and written by William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone. Fort Buzzard is the newest adventure with these two. It is a rather entertaining western it has what it's suppose to have when it comes to good guys and bad guys, throw in some indians and some gunfighting and there you have it. I will always enjoy a good western, sadly some of the newer ones from these author varies too much in quality. I thank Pinnacle Books and Netgalley for supplying me with this advance copy.

In William Johnstone's The Angry Land, (Pinnacle Books 2024) Book 6 of the Smoke Jensen series, Smoke Jensen, reformed outlaw and now respected rancher, is being squeezed by increasing costs for shipping his cattle to market. It's a problem all of the local ranchers are struggling with. Smoke comes up with a plan to merge the herds of several ranches in the Big Rock area and sell them as a group to get a better price from the buyers. He plans to ramrod the operation from negotiating the terms to getting the huge herd to market but his wife, Sally, is injured trying to tame a green horse and he passes the leadership mantle to a good friend and fellow rancher. Disaster strikes and the herd is stolen from the train, killing Smoke's friend, injuring one of his ranch cowhands, and a passel of innocents who happened to be on the train. Smoke takes it personally and follows the trail of the owlhoots to Abilene where he hopes to seek revenge for his friends and justice for his fellow ranchers.

Another excellent book in the Jensen family universe, as good as any in the Smoke Jensen series.