Showing results by author "William W. Johnstone" in All Categories

Matt Bodine and Sam Two Wolves became blood brothers years ago in Wyoming Territory. So close that they can almost read each other’s mind, they’ve both got minds of their own. But when Matt Bodine, making time with Wyatt Earp’s woman in Tombstone, feels an inexplicable chill in his bones, he knows his brother is calling out to him. A hundred miles away, Sam is in more than trouble - he’s in chains at the hands of a murderous human slaver. Suddenly, Sam’s life is hanging by a thread - along with the lives of dozens of innocent men.

When the brothers head into the small cow town of Crossville, close by Devil Creek, all they want is to stock up on supplies and rest their weary horses. Instead, they find themselves in the middle of a bloody range war that’s literally split the town down the middle. The warring factions have set up camp on either side of Main Street and the newcomers ride in on a deserted strip of no man’s land where anything - and nothing good - is liable to happen.

Matt Bodine and Sam Two Wolves were hard on a trail that led them deeper and deeper into Apache territory toward the Mexican border where a bunch of varmints, desperate men who hire out to most anybody to most anything, were operatin' two of the scummiest dodges in the west. Running guns to the Apache and white-slaving kidnapped children. Matt and Sam had hooked up with two companions along the way, a prideful mountain man who'd lost his granddaughter in an Indian raid and a miss searchin' for her brother, taken by the Apache a while back.

Young Matt Bodine and Sam Two Wolves became blood brothers on the day the rancher's son saved the half breed's life, forging a bond no one could ever break. Beneath the Montana big sky, Matt learned the ways of the Cheyenne from his friend. And as years passed, a legend grew of the breed and the white man who rode together — and who could jerk killing iron with the best of them....

When Frank Morgan finds there’s a price on his head, there’s only one thing to do - kill the man who put it there - and if he avenges the death of his beloved doing so, the sweeter the justice. But the trail of revenge hides many an ambush. From hired killers to hooded night riders, there’s no rest for the last gunfighter, especially when a beautiful young trick rider needs his help. Guns blazing, the dust never settling, vengeance comes to a showdown in a Nevada ghost town, where an army of gunmen lies in wait....

Orphaned at the age of seven and adopted by Indians, Jami 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 Ana’s Mexican army and Jami MacCallister made the perfect scout for the fledgling volunteer force. What lay ahead of them was a place called the Alamo, 13 days of blood, dust, and courage.

In a small Texas town in 1950, a man from the Pinkerton Detective Agency interrupts an old-timer's daily game of dominos to learn the truth about Butch Cassidy - who is still alive and well and sitting right in front of him.... So begins the novel of the West's most legendary outlaw - as told by America's master storytellers, William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone. Butch Cassidy: The Lost Years reveals the stunning secret behind that infamous shootout in Bolivia that claimed the lives of the Sundance Kid and, allegedly, Butch himself.

Not many men get a second chance at life. But thanks to a chief U.S. Marshal who needs their help, the bank-robbing duo of Jimmy "Slash" Braddock and Melvin "Pecos Kid" Baker are on the right side of the law. As unofficial marshals, they've agreed to pick up three prisoners from a Milestown jail and escort them to Denver. Sounds easy enough—until they learn the prisoners are an unholy trio of sadistic cutthroat killers known as Talon, "Hellraisin'" Frank, and the Sioux called Black Pot. And they've managed to escape before Slash and Pecos even show up.

Life on the straight and narrow is easier said than done for a pair of crooks like Jimmy “Slash” Braddock and Melvin “Pecos Kid” Baker. But these reprobates are doing their damnedest to make an honest go of it. They’ve managed to safely deliver a church organ to a mountain parish when their sometime employer—Chief U.S. Marshal Luther T. “Bleed-’m-So” Bledsoe—recruits them for a job only fools would take.

With just a single journey under his belt, first-time wagoneer Tomahawk Callahan became a national hero. It started as a challenge waged by a railroad mogul—a race between an old-time wagon train and a brand-new rail line—with the whole world watching. Against all odds, Tomahawk led his family business to victory. At the time, he thought it would be his first—and last—wagon train. But at his sister's urging, he's agreed to take on one final job, a never-before-attempted trip across the Mexican border....

Jamie MacCallister remembers the Alamo—especially one brave frontiersman who died fighting there. Now the fallen veteran’s granddaughter needs Jamie’s help. She’s found a letter written by her grandfather with a map to the spot where Alamo legend Jim Bowie supposedly hid a fortune in silver and gold. Jamie never believed the story. Countless treasure hunters had scoured the area and come up empty handed. But his friend’s granddaughter is convinced it’s hidden where no one has ever dared to search—deep in the heart of Comanche country.

The town got its unusual name when a pair of brokedown prospectors accidentally dropped a stick of dynamite in the Rockies—and unearthed a massive vein of silver. One of the two men dropped dead from excitement. The other one named the place "Dead Broke" in honor of his dead broke companion and declared himself mayor of a brand-new mining town. Mayor Allane Auchenleck—better known as Nugget—put Dead Broke on the map. But when the silver market takes an unexpected nosedive, the bustling boomtown goes bust. And all hell breaks loose.

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.

It was a favor to a dead friend: Frank Morgan is shepherding a group of mail-order brides to a brawling Alaska boom town called Skagway. A bushwhacking, a storm-racked sea voyage and an anything-but-friendly reception isn't enough to stop Morgan and his blushing brides. But a beautiful woman has a lucrative plot on her mind - in the wild, wild north where men are mad with greed and loneliness.

Big Rock, Colorado, has seen its share of wagon trains pass through town, but never one like this. For starters, it's led by a woman—a sweet southern belle named Annabelle—and the passengers are young Civil War widows and orphans. The only man on board is Annabelle's father, a former colonel blinded in the war. They're on their way to Purgatory Butte, Wyoming, to run the ranch the colonel inherited. Smoke's wife, Sally Jensen, thinks it's a noble goal and wants to help the women out—by volunteering her husband's protection on the treacherous journey north. In spite of his doubts, Smoke agrees.

Smoke Jensen has met some down-and-dirty, murdering prairie scum over the years. But this time it's personal and it's bloody - and going to get bloodier. First, they stole 50 of the hundred horses Smoke delivered to his old friend Big Jim Conyers in Tarrant County, Texas. Then they stole 2,000 cattle from Big Jim...and killed him just for the fun of it. Now they're going to pay....

Some say bad luck comes in threes. And if you're a bandit, bank robber, or bloodthirsty killer, that bad luck comes in the form of three hard justice-seekers known as the Jackals. Each of the Jackals has his own path to follow: Former Texas Ranger Matt McCulloch is trying to protect a young Commanche from scalphunters. Retired cavalry sergeant Sean Keegan is dodging bullets in a prison breakout planned by the notorious Benteen brothers. And bounty hunter Jed Breen is bringing in one of the bank-robbing Kruger twins - while the other one's out for his blood....

Ever since the silver market crashed, the mining town of Dead Broke has been awfully quiet. The local marshal—legendary gunman Duncan "Mick" MacMicking—doesn't have much to do besides outshoot the occasional greenhorn looking to challenge him. But all this peace and quiet is about to end. Mayor Nugget has unearthed a mineral to rival his famous "Hope Diamond of Silver." He calls it the "Zinc of Zion," a 1,776-pound boulder of pure zinc carbonate. And when he announces his discovery, the quiet boomtown of Dead Broke goes boom—again—with a vengeance.

Colton Gray doesn't look like your typical deputy marshal. He's too young and good-looking for a West Texas lawman. At least that's what his boss thinks. As captain, Marshal John Timmons feels this new kid Colton isn't up to the job—at least not yet—so he sends him on minor assignments to keep him out of Boot Hill. But to everyone's surprise, young Colton manages to track down Eli Doolin and Casey Tubbs, the notorious "Old Man Bank Robbers." Not only that, he claims he gunned them down in a shootout, earning high praise from the West Texas chief marshal's office. And a legend is born.

Patrick Foley is a haunted man. After losing his family in a brutal Commanche raid, he drifts from town to town seeking justice and revenge. His mission—to track down the killers—has hardened his heart against all men, good or bad. But his icy resolve begins to melt when he arrives in the small Texas town of Christmas Creek—along with a massive winter storm that traps him there with a good woman, her little boy, and some very bad men . . .