This was a strong sequel in the To the River's End series, it had that element that I was looking for from the first book. It used the Western element that I was wanting and enjoyed from the authors. The characters had that element that I was looking for and was glad it was so well written. It had everything that I enjoyed from the first book and improved on it. William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone has a strong writing style and am excited for more.

I've, so far, missed the first entry in this "series". If it's like this follow-up, I probably won't visit it.

This is the first I've read of the 300 or so Johnstone Clan books that explores an 1800s rendezvous at length, basically, from beginning to end. The motivations, the work, the individuals and so much more. It is well thought out....

...thing is, it is also well over written. Writing of hunting beaver hides and all that goes with it is repeated and repeated in the similar over explanation. The camping here and camping there also repeated. At hundreds of pages, it all gets boring.

The real problem with the book is there is no real plot. It's just of those who go to rendezvous. Go hunting beaver. Go back to rendezvous.
True, there are a few gun fights and not all the characters involved survive the volume. This happens just a few times. This may be one of the quietest Johnstone books of all.

The book would have been so much better at a third of what it ended up to be.

Bottom line: I don't recommend this book. 4 out of ten points.
Access to this book was via NetGalley.com.

Unfortunately, I dnfed this, it felt like a sitcom. From what I've gathered, this sequel is practically what happened in the first book, but with different locations and villains. However, from the short part I read, the main characters were okay.
I just stopped because I didn't feel any excitement or anything to look forward to.

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.