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The Last Mountain Man #41

Butchery of the Mountain Man

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The Greatest Western Writer Of The 21st CenturyIn Montana Territory, one name above all others strikes fear and hatred in the hearts of the Crow Indians--John Jackson, better known these days as Liver-Eating Jackson. Consumed by grief and rage, the mountain man has brutally killed ten braves so far in his one-man war of vengeance against the Crow, who murdered his beloved wife.

Smoke Jensen knows Jackson by another name--"friend." He's not sure to what extent Jackson's exploits are true--devastating loss and frontier savagery have certainly driven lesser men mad. While doing some trapping in the territory, Smoke hears that twenty of the Crow's most fearsome warriors have banded together to hunt down their nemesis. Without a second thought, he rushes to his old friend's aid.

But even with Smoke Jensen at his side, the fierce and fearless Liver-Eating Jackson may not be able to beat the odds this time. . .

384 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2013

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About the author

William W. Johnstone

1,055 books1,428 followers
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.

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5 stars
251 (53%)
4 stars
127 (27%)
3 stars
68 (14%)
2 stars
12 (2%)
1 star
10 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
151 reviews7 followers
March 27, 2014
I HATE it when a new story f's up the original story. I wish J. A. Johnstone had read his father's original stories. Maybe then he could keep the story straight and not put extraneous people and events in that were not in the original. And it wasn't even really about Smoke Jensen. How was this a Mountain Man novel?
Profile Image for Jerry Blackerby.
Author 5 books10 followers
July 21, 2014
Another well done Johnstone book. Although written in a different style to a certain extent, it is still good. In this book, Smoke is interviewed about both John (Liver Eater) Jackson and himself by a college Professor. Still a good book.
Profile Image for Al Collier.
17 reviews68 followers
June 9, 2018
First I have enjoyed the Smoke Jensen aka Mountain Man series but this book destroys the Big Rock, Monty Carson and Louis Longmont histories and hurts Preacher's character. Not a good book on any level! Skip it!
310 reviews1 follower
November 20, 2023
Smoke is 73 years old in this one and he is telling part of his life story to a professor type from the University of Colorado along with some info on his good friend John Jackson. Smoke and Sally take in a football game at the University and meet several students and a team player. In between telling the story of how he and Jackson survive a battle with the crow Indians, who had murdered the wife of Jackson along with his infant son Smoke is forced to take care of a young Bully in a bar-type setting at the college.
The story itself is very good but the year and Smoke's age kind of takes away from the series itself. Overall I thing you will enjoy this one.
2 reviews4 followers
October 21, 2022
Spoiler warning: it could be my memory, as I’ve worked through the “Last Mountain Man” series over the last 20+ years, but it seemed that some details were out of sequence or changes in circumstances. If true, it can be disappointing to avid and loyal readers. But again, my apologies if I’m mistaken. Still love the series, characters, and plots!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
381 reviews2 followers
April 23, 2024
Butchery of the Mountain Man

What an interesting approach to have Smoke Jensen tell the stories of John Jackson and himself. First time I read about John Jackson. So sad that his wife and son died a cruel death by the Crowds to Smoke lost his wife and son to ruthless outlaws. The West was rough and dangerous.
Profile Image for Melva Clark.
401 reviews23 followers
December 3, 2018
We have been reading books that were written from the Indians perspective. This book is from the mountain man perspective. There were some graphic death scenes but over all it was a good book.
Profile Image for Kevin Jackson.
60 reviews2 followers
January 12, 2019
Disappointed

Too much biography. I did not enjoy this book. Not the typical smoke Jensen story at all. Hope the next story has action.
1 review
December 16, 2020
If I could get a refund on this book, I would request it. The events this Book presented, were no where near the events in the previous books. I was very disappointed in this book.
Profile Image for Martha Peebles.
903 reviews10 followers
April 23, 2021
Liver Eating Johnson

Awesome read as always. Love these books by the Johnston's. I highly recommend these books to any one who loves a good mountain man book.
Profile Image for Tom.
99 reviews
January 19, 2022
I’ve never read better

William W. Johnstone is, in my opinion, as good an author that exists today in any genre. There’s so much more to his books than just being westerns.
3 reviews
December 19, 2023
Great story

A story well worth reading. Even though it’s a fictional story of a character in history it’s a great read
Profile Image for Ishtiaque Alam Russel.
109 reviews
June 7, 2024
I really like the phrases Dr. Armbruster said while Smoke was retelling the events of his and John Jackson's eventful lives as "Smoke shares them, it is as if he is reliving the experiences."
5 reviews
April 30, 2025
Amazing Story's about our past!

A Great Story about Smoke and John that keeps you reading! A hard book to put down. Enjoyed the History Lessons!
2,490 reviews46 followers
January 22, 2014
A Novel told from the point of view of an aged Smoke Jensen(1928) being interviewed for a book about some of the old west figures stil famous. That's the framing for a series of stories involving Smoke, his mentor Preacher, and Smoke's own protege, Matt Jensen. The main part of the story involves Smoke taking on an Easterner that came west to be a mountain man and trap. Smoke teaches him how to survive and prosper in the Montana territory.

John Jackson is based on the real life mountain man John 'Liver-eating' Johnson. The nickname comes from his revenge trek on the Crow for murdering his wife and son while he was away. You see, the Crow believe that a warrior is stuck in limbo whithout his liver. John Jackson doesn't really eat the liver, just a bite off the first. But he knows of their beleifs and torments them.

In the end, Smoke joins him for a last stand against twenty of the Crow's finest warriors.

A fine novel.
Profile Image for Sue.
1,698 reviews1 follower
November 26, 2016
Awful, just awful. Somebody lied to this author asking for an "Indiana Jones" tilt. This author can't do dialogue and it was just ruined. The first two chapters were stilted sentences. ugh

stilt·ed
ˈstiltəd/
adjective
1.
(of a manner of talking or writing) stiff and self-conscious or unnatural.
"we made stilted conversation"
synonyms: strained, forced, contrived, constrained, labored, stiff, self-conscious, awkward, unnatural, wooden
5 reviews
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December 30, 2013
Butcher of mountain man

this was a very good book all your books are great
why don't they make a movie with smoke Sally preacher pearly Matt cal Longmont and sheriff Carson it would be awesome
Profile Image for Seth Jones.
4 reviews
February 10, 2014
This was my first time reading a western. It's simple yet very entertaining. Also, I am a big fan of the movie 'Jeremiah Johnson' (which was based off of John Jackson) so it was interesting to see part of that story told in a different way.
112 reviews1 follower
January 20, 2015
A good story about life as a mountain man.
Profile Image for Carol and Gary Curtis.
886 reviews13 followers
September 5, 2015
Couldn't finish this book and I like Westerns. But this one got clogged down with the story telling and that wasn't well written. This author is a good one so I must have missed something.
Profile Image for Donald.
454 reviews5 followers
November 6, 2015
History alive!

Combining history dirty good yarns plus some adventure makes for an interesting combination that guarantees a good read! This novel has it all!
862 reviews2 followers
January 3, 2017
Outstanding!

Another great Western by the master writer. I've all his books and now have over 130 as ebooks. You will never find better books.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews