A Hundred Ways to Kill

Blood Bond #16

by William W. Johnstone, J.A. Johnstone

The Greatest Western Writers Of The 21st Century

Young Matt Bodine and Sam Two Wolves. One is a rancher's son. The other a Half Breed outcast. To kill one you'd have to kill them both. And that would take an army--and a whole lot of luck...

A Hundred Ways To Kill. . .And Twice As Many Ways To Die

Heading west to San Diego some honest pilgrims paid ten men good money to keep their wagon train safe. Soon word comes to Tombstone, where Matt Bodine and Sam Two Wolves are wearing out their welcome gambling with Wyatt Earp. The wagon train's guards turned against their charges and headed off to Mexico with six young pioneer girls captive. Everyone knows the tortures of the damned that await the girls in the hellholes south of the border. But only Matt and Sam will do something about it.

But it's going to take more than their bravery and shooting skills to rescue those girls from the merciless white slavers. On the way to Mexico Matt and Sam ride into a war party of Apaches. They'll be facing outlaws and furious Apaches at the same time. For two blood brothers, the idea is to rescue those girls and blast their way North to freedom--no matter how many bullets it takes, or how many guns are shooting back...

Genres: Westerns, Fiction, Action

360 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

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

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Undemanding western were The Blood Brothers rescue some maidens that are being abducted to Mexico, where a fate worse than death lies in store.

Lots of shooting and riding.

[Randy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very disappointing novel.

I've been a fan of Johnstone's work for a long time. I continued to enjoy the "ghost writers" employed after his death a few years back. The BLOOD BOND series was a particular favorite. I knew which writer did the books because I recognized his style from reading so many of his prodigious output under his own name or the various house names under which he worked.

There's obviously a new writer here and we've been delivered a bloated book packed with filler. 411 pages of story. It takes until 125 to get to the main plot. A subplot involving a silver mine near Tombstone owned by Matt Bodine and Sam Two Wolves, the claim jumpers they dealt with, incidents in Tombstone when they brought the bodies(including standing around discussing how they killed each of the five and a shootout with their friends). All unnecessary to carry the main plot other than a tenuous connection. A hundred pages could have been carved out easily and made this a much better book.

It had a great plot. A wagon train was attacked, everyone but eight young women, by white slavers. One who'd answered the call of nature just before the attack began, escaped and stole a horse.

Almost recaptured, she was saved by a group of the infamous cowboys, one shot to death, in the back, by her pursuers.

A group of tough men from Tombstone set off into Mexico, led by Matt and Sam, to rescue them. Two of those tough nuts were John Ringo and Curly Bill Brocius. The Earps were out of town with a posse chasing a gang of bank robbers.

They worked well in the rescue of the girls, and a lot more, right in the middle of a slave auction.

Good plot marred by a lot of padding.

[Christopher Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not one of Johnstone's finest books. It has an effective and interesting premise, and the lead up to the final conflict is engaging, but the final battle felt a bit too implausible, with hundreds of bullets flying about hitting only minor characters or inflicting minor wounds on big names, while ignoring the good guys as they unerringly shoot every enemy.

I don't mind a bit of mythic heroism, but there's a point at which having every plan work smoothly and every hero win unscathed becomes less than satisfying and a bit too unbelievable.

[Richard Guerrero · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just completed this series from start to finish. They are two of my favorite characters in these western books. I did not know if these are transcripts from the lake author or a new writer. This was not the same characters that they started with 16 books ago, it started when they were 25 and 16 books later they’re barely 30. They did not join up with other people, they did not drink whiskey and they did not play cards. They kind of ruined it for me, they just put them in the same class as all the other western characters. You can read this book and just pick blindly another one of their western books and you’ll probably see a lot of the exact same things. I love reading A Series from start to finish but in this case I would recommend picking any one of them and reading it as a single book. You really do not have to follow their life story because they change it up, again I would highly recommend reading them in whatever order and not all at once. Another thing they never work for money but these last couple of books they had to make money, they did not talk about their valuable ranches back in Wyoming or Montana, whatever state it is in this time.

[Derrick · Rating 1 out of 5]

Since this was the last one in the series, i was disappointed. Sam and Matt weren't all that funny and the topic was not all that great. I realize it's a real topic, but they already did one involving this topic in the series. They had lots of awesome characters in this book as well and they didn't find a great way to use them. Thankfully I missed 2 other novels in this series and hopefully will end on a more exciting note.

[Carolyn Frady · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exciting, could hardly put it down.

I like a good western, and William Johnstone is one of the best. He captures the true essence of the Old West. Would recommend to anyone who likes fictional stories of the Old West.

[larry brashear · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great!

This is another fine book by Mr. William Johnstone. Well written and edited while thrilling, interesting and exciting. Good job as usual!

[Tona · Rating 5 out of 5]

Need more Blood Bond book

Title says it all. I really enjoyed these two blood brothers. I hope to see a new book out soon.

[Tom Geelan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tom says

Good read and entertaining. A little eastern take on the old western ways and talk, but all in all a relaxed read!!!!!

[Rick Jantz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good enough book. When I started I didn't think I would actually read the whole thing. But I kept picking it up until I was hooked. I enjoyed how Johnny Ringo was woven into the story. Someone that was real, that I know a little about, and that was known to be unpredictable and dangerous. It added a great element to the story.

[Jim Sinclair · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't really have a report to give on this book. Not one of my favourite reads, but admittedly not a genre I am particularly drawn to. I read it because it was passed on to me by family.
Some will like it, others won't, but isn't that the case for all books?

[Michael Ploeger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Violent , but interesting.

Interesting read. Curious how accurate some of the history is. It does make one pause and consider how vile and complex humans can be. Pretty violent book.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another good novel by this author.

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another good western series by Johnstone. This one follows the adventures of two brothers as they travel the old west. Recommended

[Kenneth Pell]

Another good book by Johnstone