I cannot review this book because the book I received does not match this story line. There is a snowstorm but the character is a Texas Ranger named Ridge Tisdale. His younger sister Nellie is a madam in the town and there is a snowstorm. The shopkeeper Miss Maggie has a young daughter Jo. There are two ranchers at war with each other and the "kingmaker" Barlow is determined to have both spreads.

So if you know the name of this book let me know so I can write a review.

The Edge Of Nowhere is the first book in the Onion Creek series by William and Jay Johnstone. When Ridge Tisdale arrives in Blackjack he is on the hunt for one sidewinder who killed a couple who offered to help him soon after his arrival however what he finds is a whole nest of vipers.
Despite him being there to keep law and order as a Texas Marshal it doesn’t take long for him to fine trouble it seemed widow Maggie and her young daughter Joe or at the center of a lot of the strife but like most Johnstone westerns they will not see the back of ridge until he sets all the wrongs right and gets his prey. This book totally reminded me of the early days of the John Stones and although from series to series there’s not much different in the writing style but the early books had a different overall field to them and it’s something I felt while reading this book. I love Johnstone westerns and they never cease to amaze me with a great and varied storytelling Ridge Tisdale is an awesome new character and I cannot wait to read more books about him in the future.#NetGalley, #KensingtonBooks, #WilliamAndJJohnstone, #TheEdgeOfNowhere, #OnionCreekSeries,

There's a good story lost in poor narrative and very poor understanding of little girls and what happens in towns in the 1800s when a fire starts.

The story is another winter bound western town and the trouble that can brew during such. It's been a standard of the johnstone clan through many series. This one has some good plotting. But the writing is way off. AS I read this I wondered if artificial intelligence was used to write this. What downs this book is a great disconnect of characters and reality. It's as if the ghost writer plugged into a computer program: Little girl, good guy, bad guy, indian and western town. The computer result is what I would expect in this book.

The main character is too be the good guy that runs around town doing things that don't make sense...except, maybe, if a computer was to construct the story. The good guy starts a fire in a building of this western town. Only a massive fool would do such a thing. Or a really bad writer. Of course, all the structures are wood. The writer earlier writes of the wooden structures. The whole town would've gone up in flames.

That gets to the snowy stuff. The book is written at times as if snow is everywhere and then as if there is no snow anywhere. There was a recent Johnstone book with snow throughout. It was so well written that i got a bit of chill while reading. This writer can't seem to make up their mind what the weather is doing...especially odd with the title being what it is.

There's the really little girl that speaks on the level of a high school age kid, with bad grammar. It seems the writer rarely listens to youngsters. not helping this for me was having just spending a bunch of time with bunch of little ones of such age. Many of the words attributed to the little girl might develop in a college professors home, but not in the backwoods west.

The Florida part: Sam, the Seminole. Here, the writer is way off. Writings of Seminoles (earlier Creeks) from the 1700s to today (and i know some) are of a short set. This Seminole is written as a really big guy. Maybe as a cross-breed, but then he wouldn't be a Seminole, would he? Also written is that the Sam character has light eyes. Story is that, Seminole leader, Osceola may have had lighter eyes due to his Scottish father's connection. That whole Scots thing has some history folks question Osceola as a Seminole. It's possible Sam might have light eyes, but not hulking tall.

Bottom line: I don't recommend this book. 2 out of ten points.
I'm able to review this book via NetGalley.com
I admit there have been a number of bad Johnstone books out recently to review. The largest set I've come across in the few hundred I've read. Coming across two outstanding Johnstone Clan books, had me feel better to turn in a set of bad reviews.

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.

A Luke Jensen book that has him arriving in town with a footing corpse hanging from a tree. He can leave his prisoner in the jail but what he finds in the town is that one man Ezra Hannigan is set on owning everything around in the area and will go to any lengths to get what he wants. He makes friends with Mac a former trail cook and along with a few others they set out to finally put an end to the man’s way. A good story with many different and excellent characters to help the story along. A very good Western.

In William Johnstone's The Edge of Nowhere (Pinnacle 2024), Texas Ranger Ridge Tisdale, operating alone, is tasked with bringing in a killer, but no one really knows where he is. A vicious snowstorm traps him in a small Western town on the verge of a range war with a feisty Sheriff who believes in law and order and justice. Maggie, a single mother trying to run a business despite a man who wants to own the town, runs into trouble while Tisdale is buying supplies for the next leg of his journey. He can't NOT help, and that's how he becomes involved in the town's range war, one residents avoid, afraid of the consequences of being involved, not realizing the consequences of NOT getting involved.

Once the fighting starts, it doesn't stop until it's over. Good story in the Old West style. Highly recommended for those who like that sort of tale.

Note: The blurb on the Amazon page only loosely resembled the book. The character names are different, as is the overarching plot. I suggest potential readers check out some of the reviews before purchasing. Or--somehow, I got the wrong book.