A Frontier Christmas

Christmas #4

by William W. Johnstone, J.A. Johnstone

From two of America's bestselling western writers comes a heart-racing story of frontier justice, pioneer spirit, and one town's last-chance miracle. . .

Three weeks before Christmas, the little town of Chug Water in Wyoming Territory is stunned by a brutal crime. The mayor's family has been slaughtered in cold blood on their ranch outside of Raw Hide Butte. As the townsfolk gather to pay their last respects, Duff MacCallister saddles up to go after the killers. He returns with two outlaws--a cold-blooded, nasty pair of snakes, Jesse and T. Bob Cave. But the day before they're sentenced to hang, the Cave brothers escape their fate...

Into this holiday hell-storm ride three friendly travelers. Smoke, Sally and Matt Jensen, come to spend Christmas with Duff. But a deadly diphtheria outbreak leaves the town beholden to the mercy of the Cave brothers. It's a desperate bind to be stuck in, but Duff and the Jensens will use every bullet they can find to shoot their way into a bloody but merry Christmas.

Genres: Christmas, Westerns, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Holiday, Audiobook, Adventure

416 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 28, 2014

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

[✨Susan✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Old West Christmas story that reminds me of how lucky we are to have modern laws and medicine. Wonderful characters round out a good story, but beware, not a typical cozy Hallmark Christmas.

[Teri-K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clean historical Western, with a touch of romance. It reminded me of those TV Westerns we used to watch, where the good guys are noble and upright, the bad guys are really nasty and all the women are kind and compassionate. And very patient with their men. lol

I enjoyed this old-fashioned story. There are some gunfights and bank robberies, with no sex involved. Refreshing.

[GG Stewart’s Bookhouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoy reading this series and every year I limit myself to reading two just to make them last. this book did not disappoint and met everyone of my expectations. I enjoy everything about them; the humor, love, and the Christmas miracles. Like any western you have of course the outlaws and the rough life, including death but even those things gives the story so much, so that at the end you are left with a sense of what Christmas should be all about.

[Katrina Swartzentruber · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was looking for a wintery, cozy western that was a little more gritty than Janette Oak, and this certainly was more gritty. In true William Johnstone fashion, there was a lot of blood and people dying left and right. Certainly the wintery/christmas setting, and the plot was relatively interesting (and sufficiently gritty) but with everyone hanging on for dear life, cozy wasn’t really the vibe.

[AndrewP · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first experience listening to a production from Graphic Audio. They advertise themselves as a 'movie in your mind' instead of the normal audio book. This means that there is a full cast of actors rather than just one person and there is music and sound effects to bring the story to life.

Maybe this was not a good example of this full experience format. For me the whole thing seemed to be way overdone. Almost all of the voice actors were overacting with crazy over the top western drawl accents. If it had been toned down a little and acted out like an old time radio play then I think I would have liked it a lot more. Still, I liked it enough to look out for another in this format.

Story wise this was okay (I was only looking for a Christmas themed book to read in December, and was not expecting a great literary work.). A Christmas story with spiritual overtones of the season. That's not to say there was not any action in it, there was. Quite a few deaths in fact.

[Mkittysamom · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a lovely, westernly, bloody, and crazy Christmas novel! I actually liked it once I got to know the characters, since I didn't know this is the 4th book of The "Christmas" Series. I liked Sal the rough and tumble Saloon Gal, stuck with the Outlaws. I also loved the Irishman Duff who seems invincible with guns, a sharp shooter! And there is also a sweet supernatural entity in the mix too! A great blend of themes and characters! A unique Christmas Story for me!

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book some time ago. It is your typical Smoke Jensen Story. Yes we all know they are basically ''recipe'' books and you can predict what is going to happen next. But they are always quick reads and entertaining.

We need more western writers out there and should be happy that these books are being written.

[Vicki Gooding · Rating 5 out of 5]

We get an up-close view of power, greed, and murder. An epidemic and quarantine. Tough men and women with values, integrity, loyalty, and love. And all the fun of Christmas. Sound too good to be true? Look no further, this book carries it all. The only thing I did not like, is that it had an ending, or I would still be reading.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the characters. I am not a western reader but this was pretty good.

[Jack Woodbury · Rating 2 out of 5]

My favorite holiday is Christmas, I love westerns, and I enjoy action packed thrillers, so this book seemed to be the perfect start to the new year, and one that could preserve the Christmas spirit for me for a few more days. Instead it killed it outright. A Frontier Christmas tells the story of a handful of heroes so indistinguishable from each other that you wonder why it was necessary to introduce more than one of them. These heroes are tasked with the struggle of taking down the Cave brothers, villains so ruthless and cunning that they... get captured and sentenced to death before the book enters the second act? But dont worry, they escape and reestablish themselves as competent villains by... immediately failing to rob a bank in a small town and getting their cousin and a horse killed, then hiding away in a canyon for the rest of the book. Incompetent villains are a definite theme, as no encounter between heroes and villains last longer than a handful of paragraphs, with the heroes either killing the villains in one shot, or the villains surrendering at the mere mention of the heroes name. Never for one second do you as the reader fear for the hero in a firefight, rendering every action sequence boring. But thats okay! Because the true villain of this book is diphtheria, and when it breaks out town, its up to our heroes to get the citizens the medicine they need! But in a moment that feels less like two plots woven together to increase tension, and more like an author with two half baked ideas trying to tactlessly slam them together into one idea; the villains steal away the medicine! Oh no! However will our heroes rescue it back from the villains in time? Well, with help of the ghost of the protagonists dead fiancé, obviously. Not like I wanted the heroes to have to actually try for once in this book anyways, go ahead, let the ghost save the day.

Look I turned up the sass here and nit picked partly for the fun of it, but goofs aside, nothing in this book made me care at all what will happen to any of the characters. I never for one second believed anything any main character did would have any long lasting consequences, and unfortunately I was right. I dont think I’ll be coming back to spend another Christmas on the frontier anytime soon, thanks very much.

[Jade · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was... honestly pretty terrible. For attempting to venture back into the western genre after a lot of years taking a break, I probably should've started with Louis L'Amour or somebody a bit more classic. This felt like pop culture thrown into western, written by a person who has no idea what it's like to live in the west. I'd bought this book around Christmastime, started it, and then completely forgotten until this weekend when I decided to finish. And ... whoo! I am SO glad I didn't read this as a heartwarming read around Christmas. Murder. Child rape. Diptheria. All the fun of the wild frontier!

Not to mention the completely bland characters, along with the "ex-fiance ghost-angel" who haunted half the cast of the book, the not-surprise ending that ended up abruptly I wasn't even sure if I had finished, and the Gary Stu of a main character who is The Best At Everything and The Most Manly and The Most Handsome, but Has Issues. How convincingly trope.

[Rob Smith, Jr. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another in the Johnstone Clan of Christmas books weaving various characters from other books into a Yuletide theme. This one is a bit more involved having to do with a plaque that sets in.

The writing is a step down from typical Johnstone Clan novels. A plot with so many angles could've used one of the better ghost writers to handle the book. Something about the whole book, with all of it's bad guys and threatening disease, lacked what should have been a significant amount of intrigue and drama.

There is clear effort to nail the characters and dialogue. That seems particularly true of the Duff MacCallister character, who's series had started earlier in the year this book came out. This book almost seems an advertisement of the series.

Bottom line: I recommend this book. 5 out of 5 points.

[Paula-O · Rating 5 out of 5]

William W Johnstone wrote A Frontier Christmas

I have been reading this author and his Christmas stories and falling in love with the way he wrote and the characters that he brought to life for us to enjoy. He is gone now but I thank God his stories will still be read and enjoyed for a long time to come.

This story was about Chugwater in Wyoming and the evil that visited there one day and destroyed the Mayor and his family.
Three friendly travlers(Smoke-Sally and Matt Jensen) rode into town to spend Christmas with an old friend Duff. Now they will find the evil doers are die trying.
I know you will enjoy all the adventures and find these characters to be wonderful God fearing caring people.

[Mark Luongo · Rating 5 out of 5]

With Christmas in the title you would think this would be a benign tale. But you'd be mistaken. The Jensens and Duff MacCallister find themselves in the midst of a diphtheria epidemic, despicable outlaws and harsh weather on the Wyoming frontier in this story. You can feel the chill in the air, smell the gun smoke and saddle leather. Like other titles by this author it is a page turner and you're afraid to put it down.

[LeeAnn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent but Not Outstanding

While I enjoyed this Christmas adventure featuring the Jensen family friend, Duff MacCallister, I didn't feel it was as engaging a tale as previous Christmas books in series. It might have been the intentionally inept outlaws or perhaps because it lacked tension, things got resolved rather easily. Hoping this year's tale (2015) is better.

[Tome Addiction · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like Western's don't start reading the MacCallister series unless you plan to read them all. They are like trying to eat one Cheeto in a bag of Cheetos, just down right addicting.

[Clifton D. Healy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my second Johnstone Christmas "read" (listen). I previously listened to his "A Rocky Mountain Christmas" a couple of years ago during the Twelve Days. These are genre-heavy Westerns with Christmas themes and some evangelical Christian tropes very lightly sprinkled in (instances of prayer, references to Scripture), but this is not an evangelical Christian book. There's plenty of mild cursing, references to rape and murder, to prostitution, a diphtheria epidemic (which was oddly and providentially timely, since this book was written years ago) in which children die, and so forth. All typical Western fare (except maybe the diphtheria quarantine). It's an enjoyable listen, and an entertaining story, even with no doubt the good guys will win. Jack Garret is narrator, and man is he good at characterization. (He also did "A Rocky Mountain Christmas.") I recommend it for a fun listen on audiobook around the Christmas holiday. I've enjoyed both books I've listened to, and will likely use one of my Audible credits prior to Christmas to pick up another of Johnstone's Christmas westerns.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

The whole town of Chug Water Wyoming Territory is looking forward to celebrating Christmas in three weeks. That is, until it is discovered that the Mayor has lost is brother, sister-in-law and their two children. They have been murdered in the most horrendous way buy men they trusted.

Duff MacCallister, a local and friend of the family sets out to find the murderers and bring them back for much needed justice. He accomplishes his mission, only to have them escape jail just hours before they were to hang. While escaping they murdered two more people and they aren't done yet.

When Chug Water is hit with a diphtheria epidemic they same men steal the vaccine that will help people survive. MacCallister and some friends head out to retrieve the vaccine and mete out their own justice.

While this hardly seems like a Christmas book because there are so many bad things that happen it does come around and people get to enjoy the holiday as they should.

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well this is one of the hardest books to catagorize that I have ever read. It is a like a cross between Jan Karon's Mitford type of novel with a Zane Grey Cowboy western mixed into it. Then throw in the horror of some of Stephen King's writing style. It is definately not a Christmas novel but it is set during the Christmas season. There is a love story that runs throughout and it's set in a small town where the citizens care for each other and help each other. Then comes the horror of the the deaths from the diptheria epidemic, and wild outlaw gangs who you learn to despise because of their rapes and murders and disregard for anything legal or wholesome. I did get swept up in the story and for me it was a page turner. But if you are easily bothered by murder scenes, and total corruption, this would not be a book for you.

[Veronica Rivera · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's Christmas in July !!! Well at least for me it is. This book written by William W. Johnstone with J.A. Johnstone is full of well rounded characters that know each other and will protect one another and anyone who is lucky enough to know them. What begins as a murder of the mayor's son, daughter in law, and two grandchildren turns into a life mission to save the town of Rawhide Buttes from an outbreak of diptheria. The story was engaging and kept me turning the pages, which was good since I was reading another book that was pretty morbid at the same time. If you love westerns or have ever wanted to pick one up start with the work by Mr. Johnstone and since his death with the inclusion J.A. Johnstone has allowed the stories to continue and thrive.

[Carolyn Vandine West · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a heartwarming book despite some of the twists and turns along the way. Reminds us of how far “the Wild West” has come over the years.
The thanks we can give to dedicated researchers who found the key to curing and prevention of diseases that used to wipe out entire families and towns.
This was a possibility for the town of Rawhide Buttes, Wyoming Territory in this book. I won’t give away the way the book progresses, but worth the read.
I happen to really enjoy books set in this time period, the trials that brave men and women endured to make the West habitable for others.
It is a Christmas book, but that is really not the entire focus of the book.

[Giselle Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first title I’ve read by this author and I see why so many library patrons enjoy these novels. They are clean in the fact there’s no cussing or swearing, the characters are like able, the setting is truly “western”, and justice is served.

This one takes place in Wyoming at Christmas time and after the pandemic we had part of this story will remind you of the importance of medicine and also common sense.

It reads quickly and I’m guessing that these characters are found in other novels.

[Laura Aase · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of a western than a Christmas romance. A family is murdered by the hired hands . Duff goes out to find them but they escape from jail and join a gang of outlaws . In the meantime diphtheria has struck the town and the gang of outlaws steals the serum and asks for a huge ransom. Can duff and gang get it back in time to save the lives of the town including duffs girlfriend Megan? Good but probably won’t read more. I feel like it’s a cross between a guys book and girls book.

[David Burnworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jesse and T Bob Cave rape a wife her young daughter and kill the family. Duff MacCallister sets out to bring them in, and he does. Just as the town of Chug Water, Wyoming are ready to hang them, they escape, and the hell starts.

A ghost, Smoke and Matt Jensen help Duff end what needs ending and help save a town.

[Nikole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love me a Christmas western. This one had a lot more action than the other few I have read from this series. Death count was high from both crime and illness. I like that this one mostly consisted of Duff and the Doctor being the heroes of the story. I hope Duff gets to experience another shot at love with Meagan 🤍 Skye would approve!

[Todd · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Odd Christmas Tale...

This is an extremely odd Christmas tale considering all of the violence, including the raping and pillaging that occurs. Overall it was quite entertaining as the Johnstone novels usually are though.

[R · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are always very nice little Western Christmas reads. I will admit that this one has a very disturbing part in the beginning, and I almost stopped reading after that. The rest of the book was enjoyable, but that part was definitely a little too much for me.

[rick incremona · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun story. Lots of build up and a very quick climax. I felt a little of the horror novelist side of the Johnstone family come out in this story with the slight supernatural element. I wish Matt and Smoke had bigger parts, but overall this was a fun read. Merry Christmas!

[Harmonee Yaeger · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first Western I've ever read, and I quite enjoyed it! The story was great and I liked all the characters. It was a little slow and hard to get into all that was going on in the beginning, but once it picked up I couldn't put it down!

[Patricia Atkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

a western love story with lots of action