William Johnstone's The High Country (Pinnacle 2025), Book 2 of To the River's End, is as good as the first. Luke, his Indian wife Willow, and his trapper partner, Jug, decide to try trapping in a new beaver-rich area that is so hard to reach, it is almost untouched, but it is in Blackfoot country. They have their best season ever, but it ends with being attacked by other trappers, killing Jug, injuring Luke's wife, and setting Luke on a path of retribution. 

This is a great read, almost a procedural on being a trapper in the last days of the beaver industry in America.  I enjoyed every page.

Following a beaver-trapping mountain man into a wilderness supposedly owned by the Blackfoot Nation and maybe a British trading company, might not have been the best thing to do. But his Crow wife and partner made the decision easier .

There are some funny parts as well as some pathos moments. Not everyone going into the wilderness will return but everyone knows this.. with the help of some friends they seem to find a way back to Rendezvous!! But here there are other happenings that could easily lead to death.

A good read that is quick with some predictable plots.

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.