Caleb Johnson Mountain Man

Snowbound

I’ve really been enjoying Charles Ray’s mountain man adventures involving Caleb Johnson. There’s a relaxed familiarity about them that you can immediately connect to. And the more familiar, the better, in my opinion. As in this particular adventure, which takes place in my favorite environment: The winter bound wonderland of blizzards and snow.

As the blurb highlights:

*****

In late November, Caleb goes off alone into the mountains to hunt meat for the winter, leaving Flora alone at their cabin with just Dog for company. While hunting mule deer in a box canyon, Caleb is caught in a freakish blizzard that dumps mounds of snow over the trail. As he makes his way out, fighting Mother Nature’s whimsy, he also has to deal with her hungry creatures who see him as a tasty winter meal.

Meanwhile, back in Bear Creek, when the snow starts to fall, Flora starts to worry about Caleb, and, after a few days of fretting decides to go find him, getting caught up in her own dangerous adventure.

A story of two people who are willing to sacrifice all for the other, the action is non-stop.

*****

What’s not to like? Man versus nature in the harshest of circumstances. Environment against intellect. And once again, Charles Ray delivers in a relaxed, easygoing nature that enfolds you in the weave of the story so that you end up wanting to read ‘just one more chapter’ before you put it down.

I enjoyed it very much. It has a ‘relatability’ that helps you connect to Caleb, to immerse yourself in his story and the predicaments he faces, and of course, the solutions he has to come up with in order to survive.

And as I’ve said before, what I like most is the ‘reality factor’ of these stories. Pioneers of the not so distant past faced real life obstacles like this every day. Some survived. Many didn’t. But all of them contributed to an ethos that has become the backbone of the American West and its culture. Self-reliance. Hard work. Courage and  resilience. 

And that’s what Charles Ray reminds us of.

Another great story you’re sure to enjoy.

Amazon Review

 Will YOU Answer the. . .

Call of Duty?

Call of Duty
A Pearl Brothers Western Adventure

The long-awaited day has arrived!

Yes, it’s been some time coming, what with all the trials and tribulations they’ve had to overcome. But at last, the day of the wedding is here, and Jacob and Astrid are finally going to tie the knot and settle down. . .

Or are they?

You see, that’s the thing about Kansas. It’s a vast and majestic country, filled with natural wonders and delights to satisfy the soul and take the breath away. Yet it’s also filled with dangers enough to catch the unwary and send them to an early grave.
And when one of those dangers insists on poking its nose into the Pearl brothers’ affairs, now, of all times?

Well, it’s time for someone to step up and answer the call of duty.

Call of Duty

                                                                     

 Call of Duty

Pew-pew!

pew-pew-pew!

No, not a Star Wars move. . . But the new cover for the latest Pearl Brothers Western Adventure: Call of Duty

(Coming Soon). From Dusty Saddle Publishing.

 

Caleb Johnson: Mountain Man:
Menace In The Mountain Mist

Caleb Johnson’s second adventure finds him settling into married life back in Bear Creek. But as we find out, this is no honeymoon, for events conspire to disrupt the idyllic tranquility that would make life perfect:

 

**********

Caleb’s new wife, Spring Flower, who now calls herself Flora in order to fit into Bear Creek society, finds a bear cub whose mother’s been killed by wolves. She takes it home and nurses it back to health, something that Caleb, uneasy about at first, comes to accept. They even give the cub the name Snuffy, and delight in how it becomes close with Dog.

Later, while shopping in Bear Creek, Flora is accosted by three ruffians, and Caleb gives them a drubbing. The incident is forgotten for months until one day, as the spring mist is enshrouding their peaceful mountain home, the past comes calling. Events combine in a bloody confrontation that will leave you breathless.

 

*****

Yes, a settled married routine is no guarantee of peace, especially when you live in the wilds, and there are no-good layabouts determined to create, and then settle none existent scores.

The thing is, a previous good deed by Caleb and Flora comes back to show, karma’s an absolute b***h if you’re on the wrong side of it!

Another great little story that rolls along at a comfortable pace; is a delight to read; and has a most satisfying ending. And better still, it’s presented in such a way that it’s entirely believable, allowing you to connect to the characters in a personal way.

Kudos to Charles Ray for that.

Amazon Review

 

Bloodshed In The San Juans:

A John Tailer Bishop Western Adventure 

 

Bloodshed In The San Juans: 

In Bloodshed in the San Juans, Wayne Winkle takes John Tailer Bishop story along an entirely different track. Bishop is vulnerable. He’s still recovering from an injury that almost took his life. You’d think he’d relax and take life easy, especially with the news his wife, Angelina, gives him.
Alas it seems that fate has other things in store for John Tailer Bishop. . .
As the blurb highlights:

*****
John Bishop has just about recovered from the severe wound suffered when he helped rescue Marcy Richmond, Senator Richmond’s daughter. Angelina tells him she is pregnant.

Ramon, Angelina’s cousin, has given a vigilante posse the slip, along with three of his men. They head to Colorado after visiting Bishop and Angelina in Santa Fe.

Days later, Bishop finds out Ramon is being hunted by a rich rancher’s hands in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. Then the rancher comes to him and asks him to find Ramon so he can be put on trial. Knowing that wouldn’t happen, Bishop refuses.

Can Bishop and Cruz find Ramon and rescue him before the rancher’s men or the hired killer the rancher found?

Will the unthinkable happen to Bishop and Angelina?

*****
You’ll like this story. A lot!
We head in a slightly different direction than in previous stories, which is a wise move on C. Wayne Winkle’s part as it keeps John Bishop’s story fresh and inviting.
And you can’t get fresher than a killer man hunter on the loose in Colorado when the snow’s falling.
Man hunter? Oh yes. It seems a rancher with an ego the size of the state he lives in – and someone who is far too used to getting his own way – has a bone to pick with certain members of Bishop’s family. A family who are gradually entwined, and drawn ever deeper in into trouble the longer things are allowed to go on.
So, how does Bishop react? Remember, he’s far from his best. And even worse, there’s a snake in the grass just waiting to bite!

You’ll see what I mean as you saddle up and ride in. This is an adventure you won’t want to miss.

Amazon Review

 Do YOU Like To Mix It Up?

Cowboy Justice: A Western Adventure (Tales of Tom Mix Book 3)

Scott McCrea hits the nail on the head with this series. And of course it helps that Tom Mix was a real life AND movie character who inspired many a western adventure that set the bar for others to follow. And this latest outing doesn’t disappoint.

Here's the blurb:

*****

Tom Mix is working as marshal in Dewey, Oklahoma, when he comes across three bad men, murderous Jack Carlino and his two sons. Tom knows their reputation, but there is nothing to hold them on, and he reluctantly allows them to go free.

Soon, the train depot is held up with many casualties, including women and children. Tom Mix is savaged by an inquest looking for a scapegoat, leading Tom to go on a grim rampage of revenge.

*****

So, what did I think?

Awesome. That’s what. This story has a darker vibe than the previous ones. Tom Mix is a marshal now. He’s got people to look after. His duty to the law is important, and he thoroughly believes in what he’s doing and how he has to set an example in upholding that law.
The trouble is, the world isn’t as black and white as he would like. And when following the letter of the law leads to tragedy? Ah . . . he begins to realize that perhaps, there are those who are more deserving of rough – frontier-style-justice than he realized.

Unfortunately, by that time, other lives have been affected, and there’s a knock-on domino effect that ripples throughout the community and beyond which Tom Mix now has to counter.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s dark. It’s moody. The suspense is gripping and involves you from the outside. And most of all, it gets you rooting for the good guys.
A great story in a much larger series you really need to read. 

Amazon Review

 One Last Review?

(I don't think so)

One Last Hanging

 

In One Last Hanging, Jeff Crawford steers Noah’s journey toward a conclusion that you know will be a nigh-on certainty. However, that takes nothing away from the story, because it’s how he arrives there that matters.
As the blurb highlights:

*****

All the enemies of his past had been laid low, all the ends had been gathered and tied. Now was the time he was supposed to be enjoying his life, his work, his advancing years. But on a drunken afternoon, a man of no worth and no redeemable qualities made a grievous error in judgment. One that would completely upend Noah Weyland’s life. Upon hearing the news, Noah knew that there was One Last Hanging that he would have to carry out before his days were through. Elise Weyland was promised the vengeance that was owed to her, and Noah would bring it to her feet. It was the very least that he could do for his wife.

The man, still in a drunken haze, had been arrested immediately after causing the accident that cost Elise her life. A short time later, he was tried and sentenced to hang. Now all that remained for Noah’s long-time friend Rhoden, the local sheriff, was keeping Silas Jacoby alive long enough to be executed. Fearful of the destruction that Noah was sure to bring down upon the town just to get to the man Rhoden had in custody, Rhoden secrets his prisoner out of town until the time for the sentence to be carried out.

With Jilley, his ranch foreman, by his side, Noah scours southwest Texas for Rhoden and the man he is keeping hidden away. Not generational storms, not cages made of steel, not highway men with plans and motives of their own will keep Noah Weyland from doing what he promised his wife. With each rising of the sun, with each determined stride from his horse, the time of reckoning draws ever closer. But at journey’s end there is a choice to be made between what he should do and what he said that he would do. How much will Noah allow the past to influence the future? Will doing as he has been asked force him to break the promise that he made?

 

*****

Yes, Noah’s soul mate is dead. Killed by a fool in a drunken haze who now knows he’ll never live to see old age. And as I mentioned at the beginning, there’s an inevitability about this story that that takes nothing away from the narrative. Because it’s HOW Noah ensures he honors his wife’s name and memory that just so darn entertaining.

Yes, the man responsible has been sentenced to death. And yes, he’s going to hang for his crimes. But Noah’s sense of justice sees only one way to bring those events about in a way that will douse the flames of his ire . . . if only for a short while, at any rate.

And no one, not the judge; not Sherriff Rhoden; not his deputy, Lands; not even the reprobates who try to intervene will stand in Noah’s way.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. It’s immersive. It’s personal. It calls to your darker side. Most of all, it’s profoundly satisfying, and will stay with you long after you’ve read the last word.

Amazon Review

 Caleb Johnson: Mountain Man: 
Back To Bear Creek: A Frontier Western Adventure

Lately, I’ve found myself enjoying mountain man adventures, so when I came across this series by respected western author Charles Ray, I just had to check it out. Especially after reading the blurb, which immediately appealed to my sense of adventure. . .
As you can see:

*****

After saving former Confederate officer Ben Winthrop from a lynch mob, black mountain man, Caleb Johnson is talked into guiding him from Colorado to Oregon. He then lets himself be talked into spending two years there helping Ben get his ranch started. But he wants to get back to his little cabin near Bear Creek, Colorado, even though he’ll miss Ben’s wife, Wenona, the Shoshone princess, and her two sons.

Finally, though, Caleb puts his foot down. He saddles his horse, named Horse, and calls his dog, named Dog, and sets off for home, a journey that is anything but routine—or peaceful. It’s just normal chaos, though, until he gets to Wenona’s tribal village in Utah, and finds his Shoshone friend being threatened by a greedy rancher and land poacher who is moving to take over their traditional hunting ground. Now, Caleb’s a peace-loving man, but you just don’t threaten his friends. He’d planned to spend the winter with the Shoshone, and get rested up to resume his journey after the spring thaw.

But things have a way of changing.

 

*****

And I’m pleased to say, this story does exactly as expected: It entertained from start to finish.

Caleb is a likeable, dependable sort of fellow. And exactly the right kind of man you want around. Either as a neighbor, friend, or someone you can turn to in times of trouble. Because of this, there’s an easy flow to the story, a natural progression from chapter to chapter that helps you relate to Caleb, and helps you immerse yourself in his daily life. And what a life it is. (You’ll see). All delivered up with a ‘double homecoming,’ that will set you up for what’s to come.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, and look forward to the next chapter of Caleb’s life.

Amazon Review

Betrayal in Apache Country

Betrayal in Apache Country

In Betrayal in Apache Country, Wayne Winkle delivers his best John Tailer Bishop story yet. And it all begins when Bishop and Angelina decide to go and visit her relatives. . .
As the blurb highlights:

*****

John Tailer Bishop and his wife, Angelina, find themselves in the middle of a political conspiracy to prevent Senator Willis Richmond from running for president.

When the senator’s daughter, Marcy, and her fiancé, Wesley Dowd, are kidnapped as part of the conspiracy, Bishop has to get involved.

But the man who does the kidnapping and the Apaches in southwestern Arizona Territory try to kill him.
And they almost succeed.

Angelina has to lead Marcy and two surviving soldiers along with a severely wounded Bishop through Apache country and to Ft. Bowie.

Can she do it? Will Bishop survive?

*****

Yes, a simple trip to visit the in-laws turns into a fight for survival against outlaws, Apaches, and the wilderness itself, as event combine to reveal just how far a narcissist with political ambition is willing to go to achieve his goals.

In this outing, the story skips between the open expanse of the desert and the crowded streets of Washington. Both of them, deadly arenas in a game of cat-and-mouse where Bishop has to juggle betrayal, rookie officers with chips on the shoulders, and old enemies with a score to settle, with simply staying alive.
Blood spills freely – as do the secrets – but who lives and who dies?

Ah, you’ll have to find out for yourselves in an action-packed adventure that will keep you riveted, and turning the pages until the very end. Thoroughly recommended to all those who love Dusty Saddle’s – and C. Wayne Winkle’s – winning recipe. 

Amazon Review

 An Outstanding Review of 

Trouble on the Smoky Hill Trail

I'm absolutely delighted to be able to post a review of my debut western - 

Trouble on the Smoky Hill Trail - A Pearl Brothers Western Adventure

by none other than respected Western author Scott McCrea

*******

A Terrific Western

Trouble on the Smoky Hill Trail is the first of the Pearl Brothers series of westerns, and it’s a honey.

The trouble begins in the idyllic town of Elder Grove, Kansas, where a group of renegade Indians abduct two teenage girls. The renegades are soon tracked by a delegation from the town, led by Noah and Jacob Pearl, two incredibly capable men. One black, the other white, the Pearls were raised together and are as close as brothers.

This book is filled with fast-paced thrills, and author Andrew Weston makes the Pearl brothers come to life. He is equally adroit in his characterization of Astrid, one of the kidnapped girls, and Raging Bear, her nemesis. This is great stuff and comes highly recommended!

*******

Needless to say, I'm absolutely delighted to get a review like that. And, if you'd like to see that review on Scott's Site, then by all means, follow the link below.

Scott McCrea

 Two for the Price of One

Reviews of Uprising in Comanche Country, That is.

Review 1:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific action in a well written story

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 6 October 2023

Verified Purchase

This third installment of the Pearl Brothers series maintains the high quality of the first two books.
The author continues to take you into the midst of the action with his eye for detail.
The savagery of both the Plains Indians and the Blue Shirts certainly is not watered down.
However, the presentation of the Indigenous peoples as intelligent, calculating and politically adept is a refreshing change, as is their trust in another man’s word until he breaks it.
The use of historical figures and locations adds to the overall picture and provides further insight into those troubled times.
Although a series, each book stands on its own with no loose ends to infuriate the reader. Wrongs are righted and the brothers’
dream of overseeing a safe haven for all people continues.
The fourth book is eagerly awaited.

Review 2:

A book that grips the reader in both the rich storytelling and the force of what is to come from this story. You have actions and reactions that will come to an inevitable conclusion. It is completely entertaining to see this period presented through the eyes of the Pearl 'brothers' and Astrid. Painstakingly described in amazing detail, this book is a brilliant read. Another excellent tale in the Pearl Brothers and one that leaves the reader hungry for more.

Fans of western romance will be rewarded with the continuation of the relationship between Noah and Astrid. If there have ever been two who were made for each other, it is these two.

The realistic portrayal of the depravity that happened in the old west isn't for the weak of heart. This level of realism is important to show the true nature of the conflict. It takes something away from books that cover this period who simply whitewash the details. Andrew Weston is not afraid to let the truth be told.

Talk about an addictive series in the best possible way...you come to the end of this and are literally jonesing for the next book in the series. The ground has been laid for what will be just a spectacular book four.

My Rating: 5 stars

If YOU like what you see, why not check out the entire series so far, and just mosey on over to the side bar and click on the links.

 Untamed Reckoning

Mountain Man Apprentice: Untamed Reckoning: A Mountain Man Adventure (Hammer and Grizz Mountain Man Series Book 3)                                                 

The third adventure in Ash Lingham’s Mountain Man series adds a whole new dimension to the already harsh reality of trying to live in one of the harshest places on earth: War
As the blurb highlights:

 

******
Grizz and Hammer prepare for deep winter in their log cabin in the Rocky Mountains. Adam “Grizz” James assembled everything they needed for their routine jobs during the cold months to come. They would spend the winter repairing beaver traps and fish baskets and curing and kneading skins to sell at Henry’s trading post when they returned next fall at the end of the hunting and trapping season.

A sudden war between the Blackfeet and the Crow Indians breaks out, and like it or not, due to the location of Grizz’s mountain and the small settlement in Yellowstone Valley, they are forced into the fight. Their lives change from one moment to the next. Grizz knows that if they lose, he will have to move off the mountain, losing his home and relocating. Grizz and Brick Hammer, with the help of Jimmy White Bear, team up and prepare to save their mountain and, at the same time, the valley settlers.

escape.

******

Yes, if life wasn’t difficult enough, Grizz and Hammer now have to contend with the fallout of the escalating hostilities between the Crow and Blackfeet tribes. And all this, set in a landscape that is as breathtaking as it is hostile. (Helping you appreciate what those early settlers had to contend with).

What follows is as entertaining as it is immersive, because Hammer starts to ‘come of age’ as a mountain man in this story.

The action rolls along at a steady pace. It involves you. You become invested in the characters and what’s going to happen to them. And it contains a nice lesson in life too.
What that lesson is, you’ll have to discover for yourselves. But rest assured, it’ll be thoroughly enjoyable.

Amazon Review

 Do YOU Like Lose Ends?

(Because I loved this one)

No More Loose Ends

They say that old age catches up with you.
Well, as Noah Weyland finds out in No More Loose Ends, so do those characters from your past . . . IF you don’t finish things properly when you have the opportunity.
As the blurb highlights:

*****

Former Ranger, now cattleman, Noah Weyland is a man of few friends, and that was mostly by choice. And truth be told, most folks just found him hard to get along with. But one man had been a friend for more than thirty years, except they weren’t presently speaking to each other, and hadn’t spoken in nearly three years. When the part-time deputy rode out to tell Noah that four people in town had been killed during an almost unheard of double robbery, and that Noah’s friend Sheriff Rhoden had been shot and was hovering between life and death, it came as shock, but not enough of one to stop what he was doing. Not until the deputy informed Noah that the man leading those that had done such violence was someone from Noah’s and Rhoden’s past. Someone that was supposed to have been dead decades earlier.

Noah knows what he has to do, but getting to these men will be no small accomplishment, and neither will going up against seven hard men by himself, but Noah Weyland isn’t just any other man. In struggles that threaten to cripple him both mentally and physically, Noah must find it within himself to carry on and push ever forward. What will be required of him will test him as he has never been tested, and he will not only call on, but he will rely on those skills that have made his name synonymous with hard and soul-less.

In a fortified village not so far from the border, Noah Weyland will dispense justice as he sees fit, and those that choose to get in his way will not be immune to his wrath. The stories that surround the name Noah Weyland are true, and those in that isolated village will learn the fact in the very harshest of ways. These events will prove what Noah has been telling people for years, they will only enforce the code he has lived by for more than forty years. Never leave any loose ends.

*****

I’ve really started to enjoy Noah Weyland’s character. As readers know by now, he’s a man with a past that has gradually been revealed to us over the pages of previous books. We know who he is now. What drives him. What motivates him. The principles that will ensure a man will die if they ever cross the line. So, when someone who should know better; someone from Noah’s past; someone who just so happens to be one of the few people who has survived the former Ranger’s brutal brand of justice, is foolish enough to throw that incredible rarity back in Noah’s face by attacking one of the few friends he has . . .

Well you just KNOW what’s going to happen.

But it’s the way Jeff Crawford tells it that’s so darn entertaining. Noah’s getting on in years now. I can relate to that. Things don’t work as well as they used to. And as Noah finds out, when you go gallivanting off in your old age to wreak justice on fools who should know better, your former reputation can only get you so far. Yes, having the most focused, most terrible rage in the world doesn’t stop your back from aching; your joints from complaining; or your mind from wishing you were home on your porch with your feet up.

And THAT’s what makes a Noah Weyland story so good, because all the skills and knowledge and experience are there, but as each year passes, actually delivering the goods gets harder and harder. Noah is forced to adapt, to improvise, and acknowledge, perhaps being at home on the porch with your feet up is the best place to be.
Superb entertainment.

Why not treat yourself and get to know Noah better? You won’t regret it.

Amazon Review

 The Deadly Lure of Gold

The Deadly Lure of Gold

Set one month after the events of Bloodshed in Antelope Spring, Wayne Winkle continues John Bishop’s exploits, this time in, The Deadly Lure of Gold, which highlights the dangers experienced by those who can’t resist the opportunity to get rich quick!

. . .As the blurb highlights only too well:

*****

All John Tailer Bishop wanted was to spend a quiet honeymoon with his new wife, Angelina. Then he wanted to get settled with her.

But on their honeymoon in Albuquerque, Lottie Thompkins asked him to find her husband, Ernest. He’d gone on what looked like a fool’s errand to find lost gold. Now he was two weeks overdue in coming back home.

It sounded like a relatively easy task. Lottie already suspected her husband was dead, so she just wanted to know for sure.

But Apaches, lying friends of Ernest’s, and a mysterious man who also wanted the gold complicated the job.

Will Bishop find the body and get back home to tell Lottie?

It’s always important to remember the deadly lure of gold.

*****

It most certainly is, as John Bishop soon discovers to his cost.

And thanks to an absorbing plot, a great place, and appealing interchange between all the characters involved, you’ll quickly find yourself drawn into an adventure where your every decision has to be considered, and your next move could be your last.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. There’s a puzzle to be to be solved in a landscape where danger lurks behind every rock. And when you can’t be sure of who to trust? Well, is it any wonder John Bishop ends up on his last legs?

 

You’ll find out what I mean in, The Deadly Lure of Gold. A 24 carat story.

Amazon Link

 Another Review. . . 

Shootout at Russell Springs

Title: Shootout at Russell Springs

Author: Andrew Weston

Genre: Western, Historical Western

Book Blurb:

A tornado tears through the open plains of Kansas, leaving death and destruction in its wake.

Yet that force of nature isn’t the only thing that might ravage the land. The Plains Indians are massing in their hundreds. Cheyenne, Comanche, Lakota, Kiowa, and Arapaho. All of them, turning their eyes toward the foreign settlers who encroach ever further into their ancestral hunting grounds with each and every passing year.

Already on the run from the law, the notorious Reno Gang also come calling, thinking that the residents of Elder Grove will be no match for a bunch of murdering horse thieves.

And just who are the two strangers from the east that come to town, acting all friendly, yet asking sly questions about the Pearl brothers? One thing’s for sure. . . Another storm is brewing. And when it strikes, not everyone will walk away.

My Review:

The excellent second part of the Pearl Brothers story is a must read for western fans. First book was pretty much Astrid doesn't live here anymore (so they searched for her). This book is truly a classic that could be referred to as Astrid get your gun.

The detail in this book is impressive. You are taken deeply into each scene with the incredible detail presented by this author. The character development is spot on. There is intense detail provided in all characters. This includes the black hats too.

This book grips you right from the first page. You can't read more than a few pages before you have a hard time putting it down. After a few periods of reading, I was literally dreaming about this story.

The storyline is rich and covers so much ground that you won't find yourself bored. The action and the suspense are first rate and keep the reader on edge. There is an excellent storyline between Noah and Astrid that will appeal to the western reader with a soft side.

A spectacular second part to this story that makes one eager for book three. If you have read the first book, then this book is for you. If you are fan of westerns done in a classic style, then this is for you. Another excellent western novel for the world to enjoy.

My Rating: 5 stars

Buy it Now:

Grab your e-copy for only 99 cents or free to read on Kindle Unlimited!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CF2QXZ9Y

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/195937775-shootout-at-russell-springs

See it Live on Site Here:

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