Bøker av William W. Johnstone

Johnstone. Keeping the west wild. FATE BROUGHT THEM TOGETHER. IT MAY ALSO SEND THEM STRAIGHT TO HELL. Alone, these justice fighters are dangerous enough. Together they're a wild bunch known as the Jackals. Now, national bestselling authors William W. and J.A. Johnstone are turning them loose . . . With Apaches on the prod, ex-cavalry sergeant Sean Keegan, bounty hunter Jed Breen, and ex-Texas Ranger Matt McCulloch take shelter in a West Texas way station-along with a hot-as-a-pistol female bound for the gallows, a spiteful newspaper editor, and a coward with $50,000 who promises them five grand if they'll deliver his blood-soaked stash to his wife. Turns out, Indians might be the least of the problems for the trio, soon to be known as the Jackals. The loot's stolen property of the vengeful Hawkin gang, and these prairie rats are merciless, stone-cold killers. And the brother of the man the woman killed wants to butcher her himself rather than watch her swing. McCulloch, Keegan, and Breen are ready for a showdown-but the Jackals may not live to spend that $5,000. Live Free. Read Hard.

Johnstone Country. Where others fear to tread. Descended from a long line of fighters, lovers, and dreamers, the MacCallister clan are legends in their homeland of Scotland. But when Duff MacCallister came to America, it seems he brought the legend-and the war-along with him . . . STRANGLEHOLD Here in America, life is full of surprises. Duff never expected to hear from his old friend Charles McGregor, his batallion commander from the Black Watch Regiment of Her Majesty's army. Turns out McGregor lives in New Mexico now. And he needs Duff's help. He's started a new life as the mayor of Antelope Wells-a mining town that's being targeted by a power-hungry madman Ebenezer Schofield, who wants to declare the whole area an independent principality-and himself as king. He's already squeezing taxes out of the local businesses and citizens. But no one has the guts to stop him. Because Schofield's got his own private army of fifty uniformed men, six Mexican revolution cannons-and a traitor working on his side in the heart of Antelope Wells . . . This is more than just a favor for a friend. This is justice. This is payback. This is war. And this is Duff MacCallister. Live Free. Read Hard.

JOHNSTONE COUNTRY. WHERE THE WILL DEFIES FEAR.  Stovepipe Stewart and Wilbur Coleman look like drifters, but don’t be fooled. In this blazing Western saga, these two undercover cowboys get paid to find trouble—and to risk their lives to stomp it out. By any means necessary.   Strangers. Killers. Spies.   Vance Brewster is a hardworking young cowboy. Stovepipe and Wilbur are two new ranch hands working at his side. And all three are caught up in a brewing, trigger-happy Montana range war between the Rafter M and Three Rivers. Then the fury suddenly explodes—in a hail of gunfire the three men must show their hands: they’re all hiding their true identities. With Vance falling in love with the daughter of the Three Rivers manager, and Stovepipe and Wilbur paid by a tycoon who needs the violence to stop, all three are in mortal danger. Their real enemies are hiding true identities of their own—and they’re not nice men. The body count is about to go sky high . . . and Stovepipe and Wilbur would prefer not be be on top of the pile.   Live Free. Read Hard.

JOHNSTONE COUNTRY. WHERE DEATH RIDES FASTER THAN THE WIND.   A blazing new series takes you back to the lawless frontier where every stagecoach was a moving target. Where every passenger needed protection. And where every hired gun who rides along better be fast on the draw—or be dead on arrival . . .RIDING SHOTGUN If anyone knows the road to purgatory, it’s Red Ryan. As a stagecoach guard, he’s faced holdups, ambushes, and all-out attacks from every kill-crazy outlaw, Indian, and prairie rat. But even he’s a bit reluctant to take on his next job: riding shotgun with his driver Buttons Muldoon on a stage bound from Fort Concho, Texas, to Fort Bliss. Word has it, the Apaches are on the warpath. They’re being led by the vicious war chief Ilesh, which means “Lord of the Earth.” And this lord means business, as in slaughtering every Texan from here to El Paso. Red wants to postpone the stage. But an army major’s beautiful but stubborn wife insists they leave—or she’ll go it alone. So Red has no choice . . . Thus begins a nightmare journey into 400 miles of harsh, unforgiving terrain, blood-drunk killers, and one scheming devil who plans to paint the town of El Paso red—starting with Red’s blood . . . Live Free. Read Hard.

JOHNSTONE COUNTRY. THE LAW OF THE LAST MAN STANDING. His country burning with war, his family shattered, a young man strikes off on his own and builds a legend with his fists, a pistol, knife, and long gun. This collection includes the classic westerns Trail of the Mountain Man and Return of the Mountain Man, long unavailable and here together for the first time in one action-packed volume . . . Where There's Gold, There's Blood, Bullets, and Smoke When the Missouri farm boy named Jensen came west, he started fighting, surviving, and learning every brutal step of the way. He learned from a mountain man named Preacher. He learned from Indians. And from outlaws. And he learned that nothing burns the souls of men faster than the lure of glimmering gold. From one ramshackle frontier mountain town to another, Smoke sees gold strikes-and gold fever-drawing crooks and cold-blooded killers from across the nation. Faced with an explosion of horrifying violence-along with some demons from his past-Smoke has no choice but to lay down the law. Once he does, it doesn't matter how many men and guns the outlaws bring. Because if Smoke Jensen has learned anything, it's this: in a vast, savage land, you don't back down, don't give up, and don't stop shooting until the last bad man goes to his Maker.

Johnstone Country. Where Legends Fight or Die. Bounty hunter Luke Jensen has always relied on his guns, his brains, and his guts to bring in the deadliest outlaws in the West. But when a family needs his help, he'll have to use something else: his heart . . . BLOOD IS THICKER THAN SLAUGHTER Luke Jensen has seen some sorry looking bounties in his time, but this one takes the cake. A wanted poster is offering a reward of one dollar and forty-two cents-plus one busted harmonica-to capture Three-Fingered Jack McKinney. Turns out, McKinney's twelve-year-old son Aaron wants revenge on his daddy for abandoning him and his mom. The reward is all the money Aaron can scrape together. Luke can't say no to the poor boy-or his beautiful mother-so he agrees to go after McKinney and his bank-robbing gang. Good deeds, however, are like good intentions-the road to hell is paved with them. And when Aaron McKinney decides to tag along, it puts Luke in the middle of a father-and-son reunion that's life-or-death, blood-for-blood, and kill-or-be-killed. . . . Live Free. Read Hard.

Johnstone Country. Frontier Spirit Lives Here. Meet Hunter Buchanon, a towering mountain of a man who learned how to track prey in Georgia, kill in the Civil War, and prospect in the Black Hills of Dakota. Now he's trying to live a peaceful gun-free life-but fate has other plans for him . . . A MAN AND HIS COYOTE When Hunter Buchanon rescued a wounded coyote pup-and named him Bobby Lee-he had no idea the cute little varmint would grow up to be such a loyal companion. Coyotes aren't known to be man's best friend. Most of them are as fierce and wild as the Black Hills they roam. But Bobby Lee is different. When Hunter is ambushed on the road, Bobby Lee leaps to his defense. And when the attacker tries to shoot Bobby Lee, Hunter returns the favor by hitting the man with a rock. By the time the smoke clears, the coyote-loving ex-Confederate is covered in blood-and the other guy's got a knife in his chest. Now Hunter has to explain it all to the local sheriff. Which is going to be tough. Because the man he just killed is the sheriff's deputy . . .

JOHNSTONE JUSTICE. MADE IN AMERICA. A Jensen family holiday takes a dark and dangerous turn-on the infamous Donner Pass-in this thrilling epic adventure from the bestselling Johnstones . . . It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in the High Sierras. But Smoke Jensen and his children, Louis and Denise, won't let a little snow stop them from heading to Reno for the holidays. There are two ways for them to get there: the long way, going around the Sierra Nevada Mountains, or the short way, going right through them. Smoke decides to take a gamble. They'll follow the trail that, decades earlier, brought the legendary Donner Party to a gruesome, tragic end . . . And so the journey begins. The Jensens share a stagecoach with a stranger who's planning to rob a bank. Smoke wants to stop him, as well as his notorious gang of outlaws. But he's outgunned and outnumbered. And when a blizzard traps them in the mountains, he's out of luck too. Like the Donner Party before them, the Jensens will be forced to do whatever it takes to survive. This time, they're hoping history doesn't repeat itself. But sometimes, the ghosts of the past just won't stay buried . . .

Johnstone Country. The Good Die Young. The Bad Die Younger. When Smoke Jensen is summoned to a small Texas town under siege by a scourge of kill-crazy bandits, volunteers line up to take out the Mountain Man. Being Smoke Jensen, he wouldn't have it any other way. A gunshot wound has robbed Audubon, Texas, of its top lawman at the worst possible time. Clete Lanagan and his band of outlaws have hatched a scheme to plunder the town bank of a small fortune in railroad money. When the acting sheriff, Dalton Conyers-half-brother of Smoke's niece Rebecca-is unable to raise a posse to hunt down Lanagan's gang, he calls on Smoke for help. But with so much cash at stake, Lanagan won't go down without a fight. With a bounty on his head, Smoke finds himself marked for death by a legendary gunslinger, a wrathful ranch hand bent on revenge for his brother's death, and an army of trigger-happy recruits with nothing to lose but their lives. Live Free. Read Hard.

Johnstone Country.  The Good Die Young. The Bad Die Younger.   In this gripping thriller, America’s greatest Western storytellers take you inside the dangerous world of an undercover agent—and the deadliest jail in America . . .   PRISON RIOT   Hank Fallon knows what it’s like to rot behind bars. To wallow in the filth of a rat-infested cell. To smell the pent-up rage of cutthroat killers and thieves. Fallon earned his freedom the hard way. He saved the lives of four guards, got released early, and became a detective. Then he went undercover, infiltrated a prison gang plotting to bust out—and barely made it out alive. Now they’re sending him back. Behind the iron. Straight to hell . . .   This time, it’s the ninth circle known as Missouri State Penitentiary. His mission: get inside the infirmary, look for a pregnant inmate named Jess Harper, and find out where her bank-robbing boyfriend hid the stolen cash. Problem is: a rebellion is brewing among the prisoners. Their rage is burning out of control. An all-out savage riot is about to explode. And Fallon’s head is on the chopping block . . .   Live Free. Read Hard.

Johnstone Country. Where others fear to tread. Descended from Scottish Highlanders and blood kin to Falcon and Jamie Ian, Duff MaCallister forged a bold new life on the American frontier. But he will always stay true to his clan's fighting spirit-when it comes to justice . . . THE STALKING DEATH There's something rotten in Wyoming, and it's not just the smell of cow pies-the first whiff is coming off the Laramie County Cattlemen. Right off the bat, Duff notices something odd: no small-time ranchers allowed. It's big-leaguers only. And none are bigger than Brad Houser, owner of the sprawling Twin Peaks ranch. He's up in arms over the small-timers claiming the unbranded mavericks who escape their herds. Which is perfectly legal. No brand, free cow. Houser has a plan to stop these former cowboys from taking their runaways. For $1000, Houser will make the small ranchers go away-six feet under. That makes Duff MacCallister madder than a wet hen . . . and his guns will do the screaming.

Johnstone Justice. What America Needs Now. A TRAIN RIDE TO HELL 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 . . . Tired of the savagery of the lawless countryside, Smoke's wife Sally heads back east for a spell, only to find the big city choking in filth, violence, and corruption. Before Sally can head back home, though, she's snatched right off the street. When Smoke gets word that Sally's been kidnapped, he hops the first train east. But Gabe Briggs and his ruthless bandof bad men are along for the ride. Unless Smoke can punch their ticket to hell first, they'll blow this train sky high . . .

THE GREATEST WESTERN WRITERS OF THE 21ST CENTURYFor generations, the Jensen family has staked their claim in the heart of the American West. Now the legacy continues as twin brothers Ace and Chance Jensen find justice . . . swinging from a hangman's noose.THE BAD ALSO DIE YOUNG In a court of law, it takes twelve jurors to convict a killer. Two of them are Jensens. It all started when those Jensen boys, Ace and Chance, got roped into jury duty. It should have ended when justice was servedwith the killer dancing on the end of a rope. But no. This is just the beginning of the death sentence for Ace, Chance, and the other ten terrified jurors.A JURY OF TWELVE MEN AND DEADHe's one of the most notorious outlaws in the west. He's also the brother of the hanged killer. Now he's here in town-and plans to slaughter the jurors, one by one. There's just one hitch:Ace and Chance aren't getting ready for judgment day. They're gunning for justice-Jensen style . . .Also Available in Audiobook

THE GREATEST WESTERN WRITERS OF THE 21ST CENTURY   The first book in a magnificent new series by America’s bestselling Western writer: here is the towering saga of Breckenridge Wallace, a new breed of intrepid pioneer who helped forge a path through the wild American frontier…   THE FRONTIERSMAN   In Tennessee, 17-year-old Breckinridge Wallace knew the laws of nature. When his life was in danger, he showed a fearless instinct to fight back. Killing a thug who was sent to kill him got Breckinridge exiled from his Smoky Mountain home. Brutally wounding an Indian attacker earned him an enemy for life… Now, from the bustling streets of St. Louis to the vast stillness of the Missouri headwaters, Breckinridge is discovering a new world of splendor, violence, promise and betrayal. Most off all, he is clawing his way to manhood behind the law of the gun. Because the trouble he left in Tennessee won’t let him go. A killer stalks his every move. And by the time he joins a dangerous expedition, Breckenridge has only had a small taste of the blood, horror and violence he must face next—to make his way to a new frontier…   Also Available in Audiobook

THE GREATEST WESTERN WRITERS OF THE 21ST CENTURY   Bestselling authors William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone have thrilled readers with the epic struggles and hard-fought triumphs of the pioneering Jensen family. Now this great American saga continues—with the next generation of Jensens . . .   JENSEN PROUD. JENSEN TOUGH.   It’s the dawn of a new century. But on the vast Sugarloaf Ranch not much has changed since legendary gunfighter Smoke Jensen and his wife Sally tamed the land two decades ago. Raising cattle is still a dangerous business—and just as deadly as ever. When Smoke is injured swapping bullets with some cow thieves, Sally puts out a call for help to Matt, Ace, and the rest of the Jensen clan. But time is running out. The bloodthirsty rustlers are ready to strike again—and there are lots more of them. And the Sugarloaf’s last defense is Smoke and Sally’s next of kin . . .   Enter the Jensen twins. Denise and her brother Louis have just returned home from their schooling in Europe. Louis is studying to be a lawyer and is too sickly to defend the ranch. But Denise is to the manor born—she can ride like a man, shoot like her daddy, and face down the deadliest outlaws like nobody’s business. And there’ll be plenty opportunity to prove she’s got Jensen blood in her veins—cold, deadly, and playing for keeps . . .

The Greatest Western Writers Of The 21st CenturyInto a lawless town rode a hero named John Henry Sixkiller. Only William W. Johnstone with J. A. Johnstone could tell a tale of violence and vengeance so real, so raw, it outdoes the legends of Old West justice that inspired it. On The American Frontier, History Is Written By BulletsIt was there for the taking: $75,000 in gold bullion, the combined payrolls of three productive gold mines, just waiting to be stolen from under the noses of a bickering sheriff and city marshal. Billy Ray Gilmore and his band of kill-crazy outlaws have a plan to do it, too--that is, until Sixkiller comes to town. Hiding his badge to conceal his identity as a U.S. marshal, Sixkiller goes undercover to smoke out the culprits before they strike. But in this town full of two-legged rattlesnakes, deadly surprises lurk behind every saloon door. To keep from being bitten, Sixkiller will have to lay a few traps of his own. Lucky for him, what this town lacks in law, it makes up for in guns--and dynamite.

THE GREATEST WESTERN WRITERS OF THE 21ST CENTURY   William W. Johnstone, the beloved, bestselling frontier chronicler, brings to life the story based on the historical lawman born and bred in Cherokee Nation: Sixkiller. In the wild, wild west there is no man more dangerous—on either side of the law.   THREE MEN DEAD. AND SIXKILLER MIGHT BE NEXTThe territorial governor has sent three lawmen to clean up the mess that is Chico, New Mexico—and not one of those lawmen has made it out alive. A crooked sheriff has the terrified denizens of Chico under his boot heel, so the governor turns to John Henry Sixkiller, sending him undercover as a gunman for hire. So far, Sixkiller has bloodied his opponents in every battle he’s fought in the Southwest. But this one could affect the entire country: A group of merciless land pirates have been hiding behind Chico’s brutal sheriff. Their goal: to take the entire territory hostage and sell it lock, stock and barrel to Mexico—gleefully slaughtering anyone who gets in the way...

He fought for his freedom In a land of towering mountains and howling winds, a man has found a home—away from other men and away from memories of the past. A trapper by trade, a fighter at heart, he has earned the name Preacher, and a legend of his own. He fought for his life In the wilds, Preacher has learned the rules of survival, and he has killed in order to live. But now something is forcing him out of his Rocky Mountain range for the so-called civilized world. It is the memory of a woman. It is her blood calling out for revenge. Now he''ll fight for the truth In St. Louis, a girl from Preacher''s past has been murdered. For the man whose heart she once touched, the time has come to leave the high wild country—for truth, justice. and a new reason to kill.