This was a brilliant book. There was so much action and plenty of atmosphere. I definitely felt the tension in this story. It was non-stop action and extremely exciting. I just loved it and couldn't put it down. It certainly takes you on a wonderful roller coaster ride. It was extremely well written and had me on the edge of my seat at times. I loved the surprise twist to the Story. It made it all the more fun. I certainly love the adventures of Smoke Jenson. He is such an amazing character that is so down to earth. If there is a job to do it gets done. I just loved the wonderful characters in this book they were so varied and had brilliant backstories. I have read many books in this series but these books definitely work well as a standalone. I definitely recommend reading this book if you love gun-slinging wonderfully paced western novels. 

Only the highest of praise goes out to the author and publishers for creating such a wonderful story that you won't be able to put down. I can't wait to read more books in this series. 

The above review has already been placed on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK where found and my blog https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/cruel-winter-of-the-mountain-man-by-ww-ja-johnstone-kensington-books-5-stars under ladyreading365

Any lover of the western genre will recommend a Johnstone title with no hesitation, and one of their best series revolve around Smoke Jensen, a man who is quick with a gun and determined to protect those who can't protect themselves. This story finds Smoke wearing a sheriff's star again as he protects a small town from a gang determined to avenge the dead of their members by the law. Another enjoyable, entertaining and satisfying westerns of the day.

Cruel Winter of the mountain Man by William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone is a standard western, nothing much to write home about. Smoke has got a letter from an old friend who needs help and he can't refuse. This book has most of the ingidients of a classic western. There are good guys and bad guys and a town attacked by a band of outlaws. Some great dialogue and some good fights. i must thank Netgalley and Kensington Books for letting me read this and escape the reality for a few hours.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this latest instalment of smoke jensen

smoke gets a letter from an old friend asking him to visit and smoke cant ignore the cry for help

salt lick is the town smoke heads out for, its a remote town with no rail service and can only be reached by travelling by horse

snake bishop heads the band of outlaws that are also on their way to rob the bank at salt lick but their reputation precedes them

and a blizzard of epic proportions is about to hit salt lick

who will win
smoke, snake bishop or the blizzard

entertaining read as always with one of these books, looking forward to my next foray into smokes world

Cruel Winter of the Mountain Man
Smoke does it again (with a little help from his friends). After receiving a letter from an ailing old friend, Smoke heads down to see him and…surprise surprise, finds trouble in town, and worse trouble on the way as well as a massive winter storm. Between Smoke and a few hardy folks from town they ride both kinds of storms out and save the town and most of the families therein although they will be needing a new marshal. I received an ARC of this book and this is my review. All in all I thought was a pretty good read.

A terrific way to celebrate the 50th entry in the Smoke Jensen series. The story is solid with the great characters that are a cornerstone of Johnstone books. Glad to dip into this one early via NetGalley.com.

This story excels with the characters, the plot and storytelling. Unlike too similar recent Mountain Man tales, this one pulls Jensen off the Sugarloaf and into a town to visit a friend. There have been many similar simpler plots scattered through the past 50 books. This takes the idea to new heights adding a colorful bad guy and well depicted storm.

This is one Johnstone book where the ghost writer did something too often missing: Writing well defined and intriguing settings. From the opening lines to the onslaught of a storm to the very well written battle in a horse stall.

A few qualms: When asked if Smoke has children, he's childless again. Also the last 6th is far too drawn out with chatter and spoils, what should be, the tension of vicious bad guys out to slaughter. Snow or no snow.

Still, this is one of the best Smoke novels in years.

Bottom line. I recommend this book. 8 out of ten points.

Would Kirby “smoke “Jensen get the letter from Marshall Madsen he gets a bad feeling and decides to go down to French lick Texas in the panhandle to see his good friend. Little does smoke know this little visit will keep him away from Sally and keeping the law in the little town and he’s going to go up again snake Bishop it mean outlaw and his gang. I love William Johnstone‘s books and was so sad to hear he passed away so first off I want to say how sad that made me and how sorry I am he is gone. he has given me many hours of entertainment in this book is just one of many. No I asked for the book of course I truly enjoyed it I love gunslingers who is selling guns for the good guys and that’s exactly who smoke Jensen is. He can shoot down the best gunslinger because he is in a category all his own. I love this book in a few love good westerns you need to read it. I receive this book from netGalleyShelf and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

The Last Mountain Man series may be one of my favorites in the Johnstone library, you can tell it's so well done because of this being the 50th book in the series. It had what I enjoyed from the previous entries and I enjoy that I can read any of these as a standalone. The writing was what I was hoping for and am glad I was able to read this.

"Outlaws had also tried twice to hold up the stage. It wasn’t a very tempting target, except for the rare occasions when it carried a money shipment bound for the bank in Salt Lick. Blassingame and Hanesworth had blasted their way through one of the attempted holdups, Hanesworth blazing away with the Winchester and then cutting loose with a double-barreled coach gun, Blassingame handling the team with one hand while firing his Colt with the other."

Cruel Winter of the Mountain Man is another great Johnstone novel. I loved it. Four and a half stars.

In William Johnstone's latest Smoke Jensen book, Cruel Winter of the Mountain Man (Pinnacle Books 2022), Smoke gets a letter from an old friend asking him to come for a visit. Since this former town sheriff had never before asked that, Smoke went right away. He arrives to find his friend close to death from cancer, but surrounded by people who love and respect him. Smoke decides to stay as long as his friend needs him and ends up involved in the robbery of the towns bank by a scouting group of a dangerous, brutal band of owlhoots. Smoke and the current Marshall manage to stop the robbery but he is killed and Smoke agrees--at the insistence of his friend--to stay on as acting Marshall until the town can find a replacement. This puts him right in the middle of the second half of the bank robbery, by the notorious band of outlaws known as much for their brutality as success. 

Smoke Jensen is one of Johnston’s stand out characters. He has a sordid history, starting barely on the legal side of the law, but now solidly one of the West's outstanding citizens. The stories in this series are always engaging and page turners. This is not exception.

In typical Smoke Jensen fashion, he sets out to help others in this novel, “Cruel Winter of the Mountain Man.” In this case he leaves his ranch in Colorado to head to Texas at the request of an old friend.

When he arrives, he finds the friend near death from cancer and several disasters being imminent. One of these is a blue n’orther and the other attack by a gang of ruthless no-accounts led by a man named Snake.

The reader needs to watch Smoke and Snake to avoid confusion but in town there is no confusion…Snake is the good guys all the time. This book has the normal western shoot-‘em-ups but also a story of friendship, love, redemption, and coming of age. Add to this background stories not known by everyone, and the reader has a fun read.

Definitely recommend t the latest installment of the Jensen story by the Johnstone syndicate. It is a fast read and leaves the reader wanting more of Smoke Jensen’s adventures to be told.