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.

This book felt different than than first Fort Blissard book I read and for some reason, it just was harder to finish. I didn’t care for the story as much either.

This is a different t book than the Johnstone syndicate normally produces. It has numerous plot lines and a lot of old thought patterns. Imagine a fort that is a prison for ruffians and criminals but with officers who range from pretty mild mannered to slightly off in behavior. The fort has several visiting professors, with the good graces of the President, permission to dig up the parade grounds looking for buried treasure and/or archeological artifacts—maybe both!! Throw in some criminal thieves, several bands of marauding natives and you have the basic story.

All of this is during Native attacks and other criminal activity. The storyline is pretty unbelievable. Characters abound in the story and there is a lot of figuratively backstabbing as well as actual murder. The interactions we occasionally funny, often sad, and regularly almost unbelievable.

Once I started reading, I felt compelled to complete the story to see how it would end. Differently than I thought it would, for sure. If a reader is looking for an offbeat western that has many plots, and some strong violence, then the reader would like this book. Me—not so much.