Dark Night of the Mountain Man

The Last Mountain Man #51

by William W. Johnstone, J.A. Johnstone

The latest action-packed installment in the national bestselling Western authors William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone’s long-running Mountain Man historical series.

JOHNSTONE COUNTRY. HUNT OR BE HUNTED.
 
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. . . .
 
While the gun-toting locals head for the hills in search of the bear, a ruthless gang of bank robbers ride into the half-empty town—armed to the teeth. Then a professional wild game hunter shows up offering to kill the grizzly—for a price. If that wasn’t enough, a traveling medicine man claims the bear is part of his act—and wouldn’t hurt a soul. Smoke Jensen isn’t sure what to believe or who to trust. But one thing is Where there are jaws, claws, and outlaws, there will be blood. . . .
 
Live Free.
Read Hard.

Genres: Westerns

321 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 28, 2023

About the author

William W. Johnstone is the #1 bestselling Western writer in America and the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of hundreds of books, with over 50 million copies sold. Born in southern Missouri, he was raised with strong moral and family values by his minister father, and tutored by his schoolteacher mother. He left school at fifteen to work in a carnival and then as a deputy sheriff before serving in the army. He went on to become known as "the Greatest Western writer of the 21st Century." Visit him online at WilliamJohnstone.net.

Reviews

[Janalyn, the blind reviewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

When a local rancher tells about a 10 foot tall bear no one believes him but when he dares smoke and Monty to check it out their selves Smoke take some up on it and even though they didn’t find the humongous grizzly Smoke did find bear prints but when local ranchers and cow hands start popping up torn apart they know something awful is out there. A mad grizzly in the countryside is one thing but when all the men in town decide to go and try and hunt the beast down it leaves the town vulnerable. So when the Blake gang decides to take advantage of the empty town in rob the bank things become even worse and this is when the bear decides to visit the town itself. Let me just say I love the Johnstone‘s books and I love the whitt and LOL moments involved in these books but when Doc and Snyder we’re trying to find out where the bear was after it killed the bartender that made me laugh so much. I love the characters in the book and even the side characters have quirky personalities that seem authentic to the time. These books are just awesome the gun fights a great thing I love all the Johnstone good guys even the ones that can be bad from time to time. These books are awesome I want to thank Kensington books pinnacle and Net Galley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

[Abibliofob · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bear or not a bear? That is the question in Dark Night of the Mountain Man by William W. Johnstone and J.A. johnstone. It's the new and upcoming story with Smoke Jensen. It is one of the better westerns in this series in a while, they have been a bit dull lately. I actually miss the early Smoke and his two guns. I will continue reading the books from the Johnstones as I feel the need sometimes for some easy old fashioned god versus bad entertainment. I must thank Pinnacle, Kensington Books and Netgalley for delivering these stories to me.

[Rob Smith, Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This excellent volume of Smoke Jensen wraps the 20th anniversary of the death of William Johnstone. The writer of this creates a tale and writes quite differently than Johnstone, but with the same panache and skill the pull a reader through. Some recent johnstone books have been missing this.
This writer also pulls in elements of Johnstone's earlier horror books, but includes humor often absent in those. Overall one of the best of the last ten years or so.

The plotting is very well done. Writing in the attacks and the town organizing and pursuit is well paced with a very satisfying conclusion. Whereas I've noticed far too much extraneous material in many recent Johnstone Clan novels, this one is far better tightly written.

The expected well-written characters are included and the settings also better depicted. A few new characters are written in with such ease, I wasn't sure whether I had or hadn't read of them before. Great!

The ending is also better than most. Not the typical Johnstone ending with the reader feeling nearly in free-fall. Satisfying.

Overall, this is a great book!

Bottom line: I recommend this book. 10 out of 10 points.

[Denice Langley · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is no such thing as a bad Johnstone western. Each series is built around main characters whose belief in the law and family is absolute, even if they've had to be reformed to get there. From Preacher, the original mountain man to the Jensen family to Perly Gates, to.....well, you get the point. Many times, characters from one series will show up in another as supporting hands. The communities are true to the era, clothing, guns, food and troubles are all what you'd find if you looked them up in the history books. No two stories are the same, each character or set of characters is unique and so are their stories. The writing is skillful, readers are pulled into the story and you will laugh and cry right along with the characters. I made the mistake of picking up a Johnstone western my uncle was reading. Ive been hooked ever since. Now I share them with my reading family and will continue as long as new Johnstones are released.

Mountain men lived hard and made harder decisions. When a rogue grizzly is only one of the hazards of rough living, trust Smoke Jensen to figure out the problems and settle the scores.

[Jacqui · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this continuation of Johnstone's Smoke Jensen series, the legendary gunslinger turned successful rancher and father, Smoke Jensen's hometown is threatened by a massive grizzly bear who seems to attack residents for no reason. Oddly, the creature leaves so few tracks that no one is able to follow it so they call on Smoke and his well-known tracking skills to take care of the threat. When Smoke can't find it either, the plot thickens as Big Rock businesses put up a huge ransom on whoever can find the bear which draws the wrong kind of traffic to the town, like owl hoots who decide with everyone out hunting a bear, they might as well rob the bank.

This is a clever twist on the usual Smoke Jensen defend-the-town stories that keeps the reader guessing from start to finish.

[G Newman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a relatively new reader of William W. Johnstone. It's not that I didn't know of him, but I was in another phase of life. A life-long Louis L'Mour fan and collector, I found many other western writers lacking. However, I'm glad I gave Johnstone a try.

Dark Night of the Mountain Man was an enjoyable read. Following the hero, Smoke Jensen, made me want to read more of the series (if there is one). From the way the writer writes, the characters have along history of working and adventuring together. This yarn deals with Smoke, bank robbers, bears and mystery.

I don't want to give too much away in this good western, but I will say that Johnstone left me wanting more. Which is why I read books. Great job!!

[patrick Lorelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

A different story about a giant bear causing problems for people in a town. After seeing the paw marks Smoke decides to go and search for the bear himself. You also have big game people coming in for the reward that is being offered and all the while a group of outlaws think this will be a good time to rob the town while the men are out looking for the killer bear. A good story with many different parts which keeps the story moving. A good read.

[Jane K. Stecker · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's A wild ride

I have always enjoyed tales of man against nature and especially if it involves bears. Having had several experiences with bears in my life I expected to enjoy this book. I did but I can tell you now this book is full of all kinds of twists and turns and action. This is my first Smoke Jensen novel but it won't be my last.

[Nolan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this story. Yes, the bank gets robbed, that has happened 100 times before. Nothing new there, but the story about the “killer” bear was interesting. Something new. Smoke goes out hunting for it and can’t find the bear. The professional wild game hunter, who is he really? In the end Sally Jensen, lady detective figures it out.

[Polly Krize · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a fun good read and the language takes you back to those times. Good characters, good story, puts you in the time of the mountain men. Smoke Jensen finds himself part of outlaws and the jaws of a huge grizzly bear.

[Nita Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dark Night of the Mountain Man

Action filled story of hunting for grizzly bear who killed four men. Smoke along with a medicine man hunt for this bear. The medicine man called the bear Barnaby. It s a tamed bear. Great story.

[Richard Guerrero · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was not one of my favorites but I have to say, the last few books were also not one of my favorites. I enjoy the characters but the stories are a little everywhere and I am just not feeling them as much. I know it’s hard to take a western Story serious but sometimes it’s a little too much.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just as good as any other western I've read about Smoke Jensen. Easy to read. Good bit of a mystery and a good story about doing the right thing. What more could you ask?

[Nancy Brady · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Jensens and Preacher are my favorites. I really enjoyed this book

[Dirk Stone · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a good read

This is probably one of his best work. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Hard to put down. I would recommend this book to everyone.

[Jerry D. Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book as are most of the books by Johnstone. A little different than I am used to by him but I still really enjoyed reading it.

[Arthur Waller · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I have read several of the Johnstone books, this one has the most ingenious plot. As always, it is well-written.

[Roy Mims]

A tell to remember

Jenison, is clearly a dime novel tell. I really like Sally supportive role. They don't make women like her anymore. Overall good story.

[Deborah Tosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book!!

I loved this book! Kept me on the edge of my seat & had a great surprise ending!...give me more!!

[Ray Zadrozny · Rating 4 out of 5]

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[Pedro J · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can easily picture every bit of this masterpiece in your head, there's suddenly twist in the story that no one could imagine and I was all for it 💪🏽