Go West Young Man by William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone is a nifty little series based on the wagon trains going across the country to Oregon. Leaving Independence is the third in this series and we get a great set of characters and a lot of difficulties on the way. It is apart from a couple of misstakes when it comes to weapons a good western, sadly it seems that most westerns deal with the same topic over and over again. I would love to see someone thinking outside the box. Still it has what you would expect and it's a couple of hours with entertaining reading. I must thank Netgalley and Pinnacle Books oh, and Kensington books as well for letting me read this advance copy. Out in stores in January.

William Johnstone's Leaving Independence (Pinnacle Books 2025) is another excellent old west story from the master of Westerns. This is Book 3 in the trilogy, Go West, Young Man, but easily stands alone as its own story (I hadn't read the earlier books and completely enjoyed this book, never felt lost). Leaving Independence is an excellent fictional account of the iconic 2,000 mile Oregon Trail journey taking by over 300,000 American settlers with lots of interesting detail and believable events beyond the de rigeur Indian attacks and food shortages. I've read many fictional stories set around the Oregon Trail, worried this would be repetitive--even boring. Absolutely not. Highly recommended to those who like this particular time in American history or those who love a good hero's journey.

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.