William Johnstone's Purgatory Crossing (Pinnacle 2025), a Nathan Stark Western, is set in the time after the civil war, a rough and tumble time for the U.S. With a president assassinated, the Indian chief, Geronimo, on the war path, and white settlers going West in ever greater numbers, the U.S. Army had a massive job of defending the new country and its inhabitants. To do so, they cobbled together a network of Army bases, civilian scouts, and Indian scouts who knew the untamed wilderness and the players. The best civilians were a two man team of ex-Army Nathan Stark and Crow Moses Red Buffalo. The Army's favored scouts were native Navajo, but the tribes refused to cooperate because two of their chiefs children had been kidnapped by their avowed enemy, the Apache. Until they were returned, the Navajo would not help the American government. Turns out they’re being held in a place called Purgatory Crossing, one of Geronimo's strongholds, a desolate area that sends chills through even the strongest of men, including Stark and Moses, but this is their job. That's the start of what turns out to be not only a fight with the Apache, but others who don't want these two returned to the Navajo.

It's a complicated, fast-moving, exciting story you don't want to miss.

Having some history with hostile natives, Nathan Stark has made it his job to try to help prevent marauders from killing innocents; the way they did with his family. His experience in the American Civil War has made him a hard man but one who seems to be interested in justice...but that is sometimes conflicted.

He joins with a member of the Crow tribe, Moses Red Buffalo, to hunt down marauders and deal frontier justice to those who would hurt innocents. But he also has some background where all natives as well as people of color are not well trusted. This inner conflict is seen again and again in his dealings along the trail. He would be the first to tell you that Moses Red Buffalo is his best friend. Something that might not be expected.

Stark and Red Buffalo are excellent trackers and are tasked with a tracking and retrieval job for some kidnapped Navajo children, a brother and sister, being held by one of the Geronimo Apache bands in frontier Arizona. As might be expected the Apache will not take kindly to this rescue. But others also come into play including scalp hinters and Mexican cavalry. The rescue is a key in limiting the Apache-problem but the Navajo chief, father of the kidnapped children, will not join the hunt for the Apache until the children are found.

The book is an adventure and a fun read.

This is one of the best written Johnstone Clan books I've ever read. It's like a couple other Johnstone books I've read this past year breaking from the Johnstone format in style of writing and construction. It's more structured as a sprawling Michener or du Maurier novel. As, clearly, the Johnstone Clan have had their books stretched in length and most of the ghost writers are stumbling by needlessly padding their tales, this ghost writer demonstrates the ability to pace the plot and writing to fit the extended length.

The writing is very tight and well done. Better than the original William Johnstone written books. There's the snap in the prose. Not even sure in the few hundred Johnstone Clan books I've read such. It's a shining direction for the Johnstone Clan to take, if they can keep the writer writing at the ridiculous amount of books being pumped out.

The actual plot is pretty simple, once the book gets to it: Go get characters. The vast complications and all it takes to get to the plot are well connected. Another oddity of the book are the large amount of individuals that are come across. THAT I've never read in a western book - fiction or non-fiction. There are so many people wandering around, it's like a paired down Grand Central Station in the late 1800s.

The resolution to the book is a complicated labyrinth that gets all together in a very interesting way to finish the book. Nicely done.

There is a bunch of history laid out throughout. I'm a Florida historian. i know of our U.S. history west of the Mississippi, but much written I'll have to rely on the writing to know of what they write. One thing mentioned I know to be wrong is one character to be written in their 20s spouting Darwin. That's mighty impossible in the late 1800s. Especially as the character is written as a late 1800s hippie. Apparently access to libraries out of the question. Even those with access to libraries would have had trouble knowing what the character stated in the book, conjuring views of Henry Wallace and Herbert Spencer. Part of what is written was slow to cross the pond to reach the U.S., much less the hidden dusty corners of the U.S. & Mexican border at the setting of the novel. Another issue being that the ideas not only not being accepted to pass around the U.S. at the time. It does, then, raise question as to other history included. I'll let those wiser than me of U.S. western history respond to that.

Bottom line: I recommend this book. 10 out of ten points.
Access to the book to review is via Netgalley.com

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.