The Blood of Renegades

The Loner #10

by J.A. Johnstone

In Utah the Loner finds religion—behind the barrel of a gun—in this blazing Western from the USA Today–bestselling author of Trail of Blood.

SHOWER THE BRIDE WITH LEAD . . .

The damsel is in distress, or so it seems to Conrad Browning. On his way across the wide, tall Utah territory to California, the Loner meets a beautiful Mormon girl on the run from a forced wedding—and the gun-toting faithful trying to hunt her down. But there are two sides to every story—and the ones you don’t hear are the ones that can get you killed.

The runaway bride has a little history of her own. Soon, the Loner touches off a storm of unholy gunfire, drawing blood from an outlaw and a death sentence from a patriarch. Among murderers and Mormons, Bibles and bullets, the Loner finds himself riding to a wedding—a ceremony he intends to crash with a vengeance . . .

“There is plenty of exciting action . . . The author springs a surprising twist to the tale.” —Western Fiction Review

Genres: Westerns

262 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

J.A. Johnstone learned to write from the master himself, Uncle William W. Johnstone, who began tutoring J.A. at an early age. After-school hours were often spent retyping manuscripts or researching his massive American Western History library as well as the more modern wars and conflicts. J.A. worked hard and learned, later going on to become the co-author of William W. Johnstone’s many bestselling westerns and thrillers. J.A. Johnstone lives on a ranch in Tennessee and more information is at WilliamJohnstone.net

Reviews

[Jeff Tankersley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Conrad Browning, aka Kid Morgan, aka The Loner, is crossing a desert in Utah with his servant Arturo when they cross paths with a woman desperately fleeing a pursuing band of Mormons. Browning, always looking to intervene on behalf of the helpless or outnumbered, stands off with these men who claim that the woman belongs to their cultish leader. Browning tells them that no woman is property of any man and then tells his servant to get her some water - with a straight face and apparently no hint of self-awareness lol.

As "Blood of Renegades" (2011) progresses we get more backstory and shifting loyalties among two clans of Mormon cults in a fight over young women. It is as tropey and lame as you can imagine.

Verdict: Very much a standard Johnstone western with silly dialogue, tropey storylines, comic action sequences, and stereotypes playing characters.

Jeff's Rating: 1 / 5 (Bad)
movie rating if made into a movie: PG-13

[Randy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Conrad Browning and Arturo are still looking for his two children, children he never knew he had. His ex-fiancee had never told him she was pregnant and had hidden them away while she engineered the murder of his wife, Rebel. She was dead now, but had left a letter detailing how she'd hidden the twins, a boy and a girl, where he would never find them.

Conrad, nee Kid Morgan, and Arturo were skirting the Great Salt Lake when they intervene in the chase of a young woman by a half dozen men. They are all Mormons, the half dozen part of the Mormon Avenging Angels and the young woman the intended reluctant bride of Elder Hissop, a gnarled old man with six wives already. Know among the disenchanted young as Father Agony because of his treatment of those who oppose his will.

Conrad decides to escort her as far as he can, hoping to catch a train heading west. But the young woman hasn't told them everything and they are soon prisoners of the Outcast Saints, young males driven out of the settlement by Hissop because they spoke up about the old man taking all the young marriageable women for himself. One claims he's already married to the young woman they rescued and he's only one step better than Hissop.

Between the avenging angels and the outcast saints, Conrad and Arturo have a job just to stay alive, set things on the right path, and escape to continue the search for his children.

A fine novel. Someone else has taken the writing chores on this series. I recognize a different style in the prose.

[Nai Wang · Rating 5 out of 5]

I binge read the series in one month, 12 books. That makes my 2nd western in one year and I loved it. This one takes place during the Wild Wild West and it was such a great adventure that I loved every minute of it. I recommend this to anyone who likes a fun adventure in the West .

[Derrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting take on a Loner Series. Makes sense in the sense that the Kid gets involved and had some twists and turns and I wonder if some of the interesting escape elements were where the story started when Johnstone was thinking of writing it.

[Nolan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Conrad Browning sticks his nose into another cow pie. Of course, it's to help out a young female. Again. Kind of backfires on him. 😆 But it almost all works out in the end. Almost. The ending leaves the reader hanging to read the next story in the series.

[Brian Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story of western adventure, survival, justice, vengeance, and brotherhood.

[E. Franmklin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Search Continues

Unusually slow moving for a Loner story, this tale did offer action and twists. The plodding movement needed a better plot.

[Douglas Fugate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Action from start to finish. The story includes more than a few twists and turns. A few surprises that keep the reader turning the pages.

[christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book cant wait for the 11th one to come out :)

[Kendra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fast-paced, lots of action read. Thoroughly enjoyable, but the ending gets you! CLIFFHANGER! Argh! :-)

[Yeva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good book. Only wished J. A. Johnstone wrote as fast as The Loner shoots.

[Jenny Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Didn't realize this was the 10th book! I picked it up from the library's new releases. Wish I had read the first 9. Looking forward to the 11th.

[Sherry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not a real Western fan but I had checked this out for my Mother and I was out of books. It was a pretty good story.