Another great read from William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone and the Preacher and MacCallister series, They Came to Kill. I highly recommend it with a five stars.

I love Preacher! It was a little different to have a rough and tumble man who owned the book as much as the mountain man, but I'd suggest reading this of you like either main character!

Another great adventure with Preacher and MacCallister. As usual Preacher is rough and he and MacCallister must help an old friend and stumbles over a tinhorn couple that also gets their help. I like these old time westerns. I must thank #Pinnacle, #KensingtonBooks and #Netgalley for giving it to me,

It's very hard for me to choose my favorite Johnstone book series. Each series has an anchor character who sets an excellent example for the descendants coming behind them. Realistic settings with a core story of right vs wrong that is the basis of all great westerns and some very entertaining discussions along the way make these all part of a western lover's library.
But this series combines two of the best Johnstone characters, Jamie McCallister, a hard man who immigrated to the US and earned every inch of his reputation and Preacher, the original mountain man who has faced off with so many bad men and whooped their tails that just speaking his name is enough to make many turn and run. These two excellent characters join forces to protect the crews responsible for building the railroad through the Old West. There are a couple of side stories included along the way to keep everyone on their toes and looking around the next rock to check for the next set of trouble.
These books are so well written that you read through them quickly. No slow parts, no dragging a story out and repeating the same thing 20 times. All you get is an enjoyable read that will have you watching for the next title's release date. All of the series are good. Start anywhere....just start.

In the book, They Came to Kill by William W. Johnstone, J.A. Johnstone, there is an intriguing story of a band of mountain men and adventurers. They are the last of a breed who are very self-reliant and tough. They have been through much together and alone. Why did they join up? Well there is a story there. Jamie MacCallister was asked by an old friend who is an Army officer to go into the Apache stronghold and clean them out so that one of the transcontinental railroads might come through on the southern route. But the determinant for MacCallister is that the old friend’s son was commanding a troop that was massacred by the Apache but his son’s body was not found.

Jamie has an old friend called Preacher with whom he has ridden with before and he is going to ask him if he will accompany him and round up some more of the old frontiersmen who just like the adventure of it. All fine except Preacher has already promised a young married couple from Tennessee to see them to California. There was trouble with the wife’s brothers who consider her to be kidnapped although they are very legally married; they were going to kidnap her and either badly injure or kill the new husband.

As letters are written and sent and the wait is on for the other of the band to roll in, the young newlyweds figure out a way to accompany the band for their own safety from the brothers but also they prove their mettle with guns. Naturals was the way Preacher describe it. Finally the whole expedition is joined together n Santa Fe and they are ready to head south, maybe into Mexico. The brothers make another attempt to get their sister and they end up in jail in Santa Fe.

The Mountain men band along with Fletch and his wife head south looking for the Apache. The Apache will be found and as many folks know, this band is rather bloodthirsty. Lots of fighting, kidnapping, deaths, killings, and other exciting western lore play out on the stage of the southwest US and Mexico. Some of the band will die and many of the Indians will die. Will Preacher overcome adversity and the young couple get to California? Will the brothers give up their Appalachian Mountain ethos? The reader of this book will be entertained as they find out these answers and more.

Like other Johnstone books, this one was very enjoyable and a very easy read. If you like Western novels, you’ll like this one.

I received this from Netgalley.com.

In this second book in the series of Preacher and MacCallister, they continue to ride and conquer the old west by clearing the path for the new railroad. And, as the title suggests, there is a lot of brutal killing. I enjoyed the first book much more.

2.5☆

I love Preacher stories. He was my introduction to the survivalist world of the old west's mountain men, Americas hardy never-quit folks who lived off the land, got along with the Indians, and respected a life that was one with their surroundings. The mountain man called Preacher does that better than anyone. Preacher's friend, Jamie MacCalister needs the old mountain man's help. Jamie is as much a legend as Preacher:

“There’s no better fighting man west of the Mississippi. . . or east of there, either, for that matter. Jamie Ian MacCallister is one of the best-known frontiersmen in the nation, spoken of in the same breath as Kit Carson and Jim Bridger.”

The army wants Jamie to help them build the transcontinental railroad through the Apache-infested west. He agrees and puts together a team of tough folks--mostly mountain men and including Preacher--to do the job. Jamie knows that for one General, this is about more than the railroad. His son disappeared on a scouting expedition in that area and he fears he’s been taken by the Apaches. He knows if his son is still alive--however unlikely--MacCalister is the General's best chance to bring his son home.

And so starts one of the best of this series. As usual, it's filled with bits of old west wisdom:

“An unloaded gun might as well be a hammer, except you can’t drive a nail as well with it."

"Santa Fe The streets, or so the old saying went, were laid out by a drunkard on a blind mule."

"They were a nomadic people but didn’t travel much by horseback. He had been told by an old-timer that the Apaches trusted their own legs not to give out more than they trusted those of horses. They could run all day when they needed to."

If you are a Preacher fan, or a Jamie MacCalister devotee, you'll love this book.