Showing results by author "J.A. Johnstone" in All Categories

A cattle ranch stalked by the ultimate predator. A heifer gutted and beheaded by razor-sharp claws. A ranch hand crushed and shredded by powerful jaws. According to legend—foretold by Sioux Chief Red Otter—the attacks are an omen of terrible things to come. When a grizzly attacks a man or his property during a blue moon, it is a sign that the bear has been sent from someone on the other side seeking revenge against the man that killed him. And that man—the avenger’s true target—is Hunter Buchanon.

They were innocent men, slaughtered in the Rockies. A party of land surveyors who met their grisly fate at the hands of the Crow Indians—or so it seems. Some folks think the story is a lie. And now it’s up to U.S. Army Lieutenant Ron Stanton to figure out what really happened up there in those desolate, blood-soaked mountains. As his guides, Preacher and Jamie MacCallister agree to retrace the footsteps of the doomed party—come hell or high water—but first they’ll have to pass through a particularly nasty piece of purgatory known as Fort Buzzard.

Luke Ransom and Jug Sartain, trappers for the American Fur Company, made a formidable team when they partnered up in the grueling winter wilderness of Blackfoot Country. No hostile raids by man, no brutal obstacles of nature could stop them from snaring what they came for. The nicest surprise was that Luke came home with a wife—Willow, a lovely young Crow woman. Now, one year later, in this new trapping season of 1834, it’s Luke, Jug, and Willow who become the hunted.

William W. Johnstone and J. A. Johnstone present Book 52 in the Mountain Man series.

According to local legend, the stagecoach known as the Gray Ghost is either haunted, cursed, or just plain unlucky. Each of its last three drivers and three more riding shotgun came to a violent, bloody end. And now it's Red Ryan's turn to guard five foolhardy passengers on the stage's next - and possibly last - trip.

For Smoke and Sally Jensen, the Sugarloaf Ranch is a glorious stretch of untamed land near the Colorado-Kansas border, the perfect place to stake their claim, raise some cattle, and start a new family. But when a man claiming to be an army colonel arrives in Big Rock—with a well-armed militia—the Jensens’ dream becomes a living nightmare. Colonel Lamar Talbot claims there’s a war looming with the Cheyenne Indians. And only he can save them from a bloody massacre—by launching a bloody counterattack… Smoke and Sally aren’t sure they trust him.

When Smoke Jensen sees a gang of outlaws holding up a stagecoach, his gunfighter instincts take over and he storms in with guns blazing. He kills one of the gunmen, the rest scatter like the rats they are. Another notch on the sharpshooter's weathered grip. But the dead man is the brother of the notorious outlaw Gabe Briggs, and Briggs will want revenge....

Kate Coldane has sweated blood for this saloon, and she won’t let it go down without a fight. Silas Atwood may be the richest rancher in Hudspeth County, but that doesn’t give him the right to push her around. When Atwood sends one of his goons to cause trouble at her watering hole, Kate’s son Rusty guns him down. It may have been self defense, but Atwood is the law, and that means Rusty has to run.

For most couples, the marriage vows end with “‘Til death do us part.” But when Smoke Jensen takes Sally Reynolds as his lawfully wedded wife, it’s just the beginning. The tragic deaths of Smoke’s first wife and child weigh heavily on his heart. Thankfully, Sally is there to give him the support he needs when they return to Colorado, where it all happened. She’s ready to embrace her husband’s past—for better or worse—and to welcome his friend Preacher into the family. But when outlaws make an attempt to kidnap a local girl, Sally is forced to use the gun skills she had learned from Smoke.

The Kerrigans have fought long and hard to carve out their own piece of heaven on the Texas frontier. And when evil comes knocking at their door, with guns blazing, there'll be hell to pay...It begins with a simple act of kindness—and ends in a shocking night of violence. A homeless family shows up on Kate Kerrigan's doorstep, seeking refuge from a vengeful rancher's wrath. Seeing their desperation—and fear—the West Texas matriarch welcomes the family into her home.

They call him Preacher. And they call him when they need help. Now, a Mexican brother and sister have asked the legendary frontiersman to accompany them into the Sangre de Cristo mountains - to find a missing family fortune of gold and silver. In a land stained by cruelty and war, the Spanish treasure has drawn the interest of a treasure hunter with ruthless paid killers as his partners. And by the time Preacher finds the bounty, bullets have begun to fly. No gunfight will ever scare Preacher. But betr

Orphaned at the age of seven and adopted by the Indians, Jamie Ian MacCallister grew into a man more at ease in the wilderness than among men. But when the westward strike drove him across the Arkansas Territory into Texas, he finally found himself a home—in the middle of a bloody war. Texans like Jim Bowie and Sam Houston were waging a fierce struggle against Santa Anna's Mexican army, and Jamie MacCallister made the perfect scout for the fledgling volunteer force.

Elwood's deputy, "Moosejaw" Hendricks is one of the fastest draws in the territory, and it's the best kept secret in the West. But when Moosejaw guns down three notorious outlaws in an attempted bank robbery, word gets around. And news travels fast. So fast that every tin horn west of the Mississippi heads for Buffalo Peak to prove they're the fastest gun. These half-cocked lunatics want to challenge Moosejaw to a showdown.

Conrad Browning is The Loner, a man on a mission, crossing the country — and crossing a lot of bad men — to rescue his kidnapped young twins. The trail has led him all the way to San Francisco’s perilous red light-district, where a crime lord is the proud father of newly adopted twins. The Loner knows his children when he sees them. But they’re hostage to a brutal, violent mob feud. Then, just when he needs it most, The Loner is no longer alone: He is joined by his own father, Frank Morgan — the most notorious gunman in the West.

The bear seems harmless—at first. Just a lost and confused grizzly poking around Big Rock. Then the killings begin. A horse wrangler is mangled. A rancher mauled. Then a bartender in the heart of town is found clawed to a bloody pulp. Now every man in Big Rock is taking up arms to hunt down the beast before it strikes again—which worries the local sheriff. He’s afraid this amateur hunting party could turn into a mass funeral real fast. So he asks Smoke Jensen to help keep everyone calm and contain the panic. Unfortunately, it’s too late. The panic is out of control. And the hunt is on . . .

The accidental gunslinger Dooley Monahan has quit wandering and settled down to a farmer’s life. But when the itch for adventure gets too strong, he packs up and rides west. Along with his horse General Grant, and Blue, a dog who’s too smart for his own good, Dooley rides for the Black Hills to strike it rich in the gold fields of Colorado. But fate has other ideas.

In 1848, Dooley Monahan, son of struggling Iowa pioneers, went off to pick up a new milk cow. Young Dooley never came home. Now, nearly three decades later, Dooley Monahan has become an accidental legend, managing to plant a bullet in the chest of a dangerous outlaw. All Dooley really wants is to claim his reward at a bank in Phoenix and make his way north to a gold strike he read about in a newspaper. But fate has other plans.

Luke Jensen brings a body to Rio Rojo. After all, it's his job and he's going to get paid. But before he can collect the bounty for killing a killer, two notorious criminals hit the Rio Rojo bank. Now Luke can't get paid unless he catches bandit Gunner Kelly and his Apache sidekick Dog Eater. Unfortunately, a would-be man hunter is after the money-toting outlaws, too, and young Hobie McCullough is mostly a menace to himself. With a green kid to protect, renegade Mexican soldiers, and a beautiful runaway bride crossing Luke's trail, the blood hunt takes one deadly detour after another.

Two outlaw brothers have been leaving a blood-trail on their way to infamy on the western frontier. Until bounty hunter Luke Jensen catches one of the black-hearted Kroll brothers away from his gang. But while Luke is trying to get Mordecai Kroll from jail to justice, he's ambushed by the Kroll gang and taken prisoner. And that draws Luke's own brother, Smoke Jensen, into the fight, guns drawn....

The last thing Jason Fury wants is to lead this wagon train west to California. Hell, he just wants to head back east, where a smart young man like himself has a real shot at a better life. But halfway across Oklahoma the wagon train is attacked by bloodthirsty Commanche and Jedediah Fury - the leader of the settlers and Jason’s father - is counted among the dead. Before he knows it, Jason’s leading the wagons into Arizona Territory, where the squabbling settlers decide to stop for good and start a town they’ll name Fury in honor of Jedediah.