William Johnstone's A Coffin for Tomahawk (Pinnacle Books 2025) is the sequel to The Last Wagon Train. I enjoyed that book, couldn’t imagine a sequel to a story that ended so resolutely. Readers didn't want to let go of the feisty Tomahawk Callahan so Johnstone came up with an intriguing and original plot for Book 2. This also involves a wagon train, this one carrying the personnel and labor to do a specialized job across the border in Mexico at the behest of the Mexican president. While the wagon train is large, read that as defensible by its size, it doesn't stop Indians from testing their defenses or other bad guys going after whatever they carry. The trip itself is dangerous in a predictable way, but the destination involves many more threats Tomahawk can't predict or prepare for, like the Mexican revolutionary forces and the Mexicans fighting against them. The best Tomahawk can do is outthink the bad guys.

The plot is intricate with several separate threads that must eventually come together (and do). That process slows the story a bit because I as reader am not sure how they're connected, nor do I have a vested interest in any characters other than Tomahawk and his crew. Nevertheless, when they finally meet up, it's an explosion of drama, trauma, quick thinking, and unexpected solutions. Recommended for those looking for original plots from the Old West with a tolerance for a bit more confusion than I usually handle.

Having a nickname like Tomahawk is a burden that Luke Callahan has top bear having won a race between a wagon train and a regular train on getting to Oregon first. Fast forward to more adventure with that nickname haunting him but also being worn proudly.

A group of men want to hire him to take a wagon train, carrying not people but railroad equipment to Mexico to start a clandestine silver mine. To help out his Aunt Clara, he decided to do it even if it means leaving his new bride and her daughter who he met on the Oregon trip and where he fell in love.

Needless to say the simple wagon train trip is fraught with other adventures ranging from marauding Apache, crooked Mexican politicians, near gangster Americans; but there are also some good characters that help him in his quest to finish the job and get back to Oregon. Evil seems to abound but always there is a plan that might help and Tomahawk is figuring it out.

Definitely worth a read. This is one of the Johnstone syndicate books that is well done and is a quick and enjoyable read.