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.

A new family has moved into the Valley and a new ranch. Not too long after Bolton, the new owner is saying he had cattle rustled. Smoke does not trust the new family. A good story with Cole having a big part this time in the story. I also always like the Smoke books. A good book with good characters.

Thunder of the Mountain Man is another excellent Smoke Jensen story. This one is from Smoke's earlier days though he is married to Sally and settled on Sugarloaf in Big Rock. A wealthy Easterner--Thaddeus Bolton--takes over the ranch next door to Smoke with his wife Emmaline and almost-adult daughter, intent on establishing the premiere cattle operation in the area. Though the man seems full of Eastern superiority with a wife suspiciously besotted by Smoke, he tries to be neighborly. This is tested early when rustlers attack area ranches and Smoke as well as other owners in the area try to set up a plan to stop the criminals before they cause problems for more of them. Bolton has his own plan to high gunslingers to protect the area and chase down the attacks.  No surprise things get complicated but with Smoke's trademark mix of intelligence and gun fighting skills, we readers are pretty sure it’ll all work out after we’ve had a lot of fun with the story.

Highly recommended for those who love classic westerns in general and the Jensen clan in particular.

--links to my blog post and Pinterest will occur at a later date.