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.

Some books should probably never be written and in my opinion, this is one of them. The storyline is so plodding and boring as to cause the reader to fall asleep. Dead Broke the fictional town is really just as deadening and boring. Finding a hunk of silver and then a chunk of zinc is just not interesting and neither is the town mayor called Nugget!!

The town marshal, Duncan “Mick” MacMicking, is supposed to be a likeable character but this reader finds him oafish and almost a clown. He seems to be a good gunfighter but there is little use of such a character in this novel. He does show some perseverance by not shooting young men looking to make a name for themselves without any though of the danger to themselves! Whether the storyline is basic and about the drying up western town that gets new life, a "fake" wild western show starring Buffalo Bill Cody, or a jaunt to Chicago --there is too little to hold the reader's attention, at least for this reader.

The read was ponderous and dull; so totally unlike most other of the Johnstone syndicate works. Perhaps a new ghost writer or even an AI given how it flows might have been used?

Would not suggest a reading for "Painting the Town Red" unless some somnambulistic help is needed for a nap!!