No Matt what book of his I pick up, I always get lost them ,wither it's his westerns, thrillers, or horror , and this one was just the same , I got lost in it and just wanted to keep reading. 5 starts all the way

Charles McGregor, a former battalion commander from the Black Watch Regiment of Her Majesty's army is now in New Mexico as the mayor of the mining community of Antelope Wells. Unfortunately for McGregor, there's a powerful madman named Ebenezer Schofield, looking to take over all of the 'boot heel' of New Mexico and make it its own country, which Schofield will rule, and Antelope Wells happens to be in the dead center of Schofield's planned new country. Schofield has already proven his ruthlessness by having his army randomly killing townspeople (women and children included) in all the other towns he's taken over, just to make a statement, so McGregor knows that he and the citizens of Antelope Wells will need to stand firm against Schofield. McGregor also knows that he'll need the help of his own army ... Duff MacCallister.
This is the first book I've ever read by William W. Johnstone (and J.A. Johnstone) though I've got a few of them in my queue to be read and I've read and reviewed a few westerns prior to this. What surprised me was the ... simplicity ... of this story-telling.
The story was very straightforward with some back and forth between points of view (Schofield's, McGregor's, MacCallister's). Things get a little bit monotonous as we repeat action in an attempt to build tension, but we don't really need to see Schofield's slaughter over and over, and we don't really need to see his attempts to conquer Antelope Wells over and over - although I admit this was somewhat interesting to see how Duff and McGregor would repel the attacks.
There was a fair amount of 'telling' rather than 'showing' throughout. This is a story, or a format, built for speed in order to simulate lots of action and there's no point in slowing that down by getting the reader actually involved in the story.
And yet ...
There was a certain charm about the story. I liked Duff and his cadre of companions (particularly Wang Chow). In fact I wish I had gotten to know them a little more. I see that this is the ninth MacCallister story, so perhaps there's much more to learn about the character(s) in some of the other books.
This is a great beach read for western fans. While not among the best westerns that I've read, the characters have a uniqueness about them that should entertain.
Looking for a good book? Stranglehold, by William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone, is classically-styled western where the bad guys are very clearly bad and the good guys are squeaky-clean good and you know how the story will go, but the characters make the journey fun.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Johnstone County, where others fear to tread! I love this! Johnstone books always leave the reader feeling as if they have watched a terrific movie and want more. Good guys and bad guys fight it out over justice. The good guys always come out on top, a little more worn and a whole lot wiser than they started. This story line finds our hero fighting to free a small town from the grips of a man who would be king. Our hero must use everything in his arsenal to free the innocent while keeping some of the worse bad guys we've met from taking control and using the town's resources against them. Along the way, the reader finds themselves holding their breath while the fight gets ugly. , love, love these books!

Stranglehold is book nine from A Duff MacCallister Western series. I thought it was a great read. Five stars.