Preacher’s Strike is the next book in the series featuring of course preacher by William W Johnstone and Jay.A Johnstone. Preacher, dog and horse are heading back up the mountain when preacher stops in to have a beer and meets a man named Jeffrey Van Warren, sent by the Elpine royalty to find his cousin and wants preacher to lend him a hand. at first preacher is absolutely against this idea, but after a bar fight, and Jeffrey saves preacher’s life, he feels inclined to help. it seems an American wisk his cousin Charlene away from Alpine and they haven’t seen her since and Jeffrey desperately wants to bring her home. After they fix up the wagons with provisions little do they know someone is watching them, and scares up a gang to follow them, thinking they will hold Jeffrey for ransom and become rich but first they will have to attend with high cloud and his Warriors) a man named Bellamy gets suckered in to the gang and doesn’t want to be there in little. Does everyone know he is a native alpine in no relation to Charlene and Jeffrey though but he isn’t the only one hiding secrets and before it’s over, preacher will know the whole story and be shocked by it all. this is definitely a western full of gun fights twist turns and surprises and it’s one I thoroughly enjoyed. I found it a little bit different from most but not so different. It doesn’t feel like a Johnstone western. They’re always entertaining, engaging and hold your attention and this one definitely does that.#NetGalley, #KensingtonBooks, #WilliamWJohnstone, #JJohnstone, #PreachersStrike,

“Preacher’s Strike” by the Johnstone syndicate is a different story than many of the Preacher-series stories. In this book, Preacher (no relation to an actual clergy member) is asked to accompany a member of the European nobility (Geoffrey Fitzwarren) for a small duchy to find the daughter of the ruling family. She had left, of her own volition, with a lothario to explore in America’s west. All is not as it seems with the “love tryst” and it is up to Preacher and his Horse and Dog along with some trusted allies to intervene.

Preacher and Fitzwarren hire some men to accompany them on a trip westward where they hope to find Charlotte, the noble woman. What they do not know is that a less than respectable character named Knox also has been listening to their plans and has hatched a nefarious one of his own that has nothing to do with Miss Charlotte. It is to capture and hold for ransom the noble Fitzwarren. Knox’s gang is comprised mostly of uncouth cutthroats but one man, Bellamy, might have a glimmer of honesty. If he does, he may be the only path of salvation for Preacher and members of his group.

Throw in some disgruntled Teton Sioux who are easily offended and there is a triangle of danger being formed. How will the angles work out? Well to see it will be necessary to read the story, which I recommend. It is a quick and easy read that I found hard to put down once I started it.

Preacher's Strike by William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone is another western with some european connections. This time it's not vikings but people from a mde up duchy close to germany. It is a classic Preacher story starting in St. Louis with someone needing his help going out in the wilderness. It has what one expects in a western and it is entertaining as it usually is with Preacher, I would however read more about him in a later time. I must thank Netgalley and kensington Books for the advance copy.

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.

Of all the westerns from the William Johnstone Universe, the Preacher stories is my favorite and this one--Preacher's Strike (Pinnacle 2024) didn’t disappoint. Preacher is a legendary and timeless mountain man, part of an extended family in Johnstone's Universe that includes ranchers, bounty hunters, former outlaws, and more. In this story, Preacher is hired to help a European royal find his cousin who was swept away by a shyster with promises of a life to exceed the boredom of her royal entrapments. When they disappear into the young nation of America, her cousin sets out to find her, rescue her if need be. The clues are thin but Preacher has worked with less. He sets out into the wild untamed wilderness with a personally-selected team of similar mountain men type folk, picked because a rough, dangerous world is nothing new to them. As promised, they run into everything that makes these Johnstone classic westerns the best around including Preacher's unexpectedly clever conniving to solve problems.

Overall an excellent read with lots of surprises and enough left at the end I wouldn’t be surprised if there isn't a sequel.