Preacher's Strike

The First Mountain Man #31

by William W. Johnstone, J.A. Johnstone

Preacher leads a search party for a missing woman—and finds himself caught in the crossfire of cutthroat kidnappers, savage Sioux warriors, and one cunning captive . . .

JOHNSTONE COUNTRY. SEEK AND YOU SHALL DIE.

Preacher is heading home to the mountains when he’s approached by a wealthy European with an unusual proposition. He wants the legendary mountain man to track down his missing cousin—a reckless young woman who fled to America with her lover—and he’s willing to pay a small fortune to find her. Preacher isn’t one to get mixed up in the affairs of fancy foreigners, but he reluctantly agrees. The search is on. Striking westward from St. Louis, Preacher quickly begins to suspect that this search party is doomed. And this trail will lead to some very dead ends . . .

First off, they discover that the missing woman’s American lover was killed by Teton Sioux years ago. Secondly, the murderous Knox gang heard about the rich European’s fortune and plan to kidnap him for a ransom. Thirdly, a fierce band of Sioux warriors launch an attack on Preacher and his men. Things are looking pretty grim. But the biggest shock of all comes when Preacher finally meets the missing woman herself—and sees what she did to survive . . .

Genres: Westerns

345 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 24, 2024

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

[Bill Riggs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once again Preacher agrees to help a European on a mission in the West and once again he finds himself caught up in a tangled web of mystery, bad guys, and bloodthirsty Indians.

[Abibliofob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Preacher's Strike by William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone is another western with some european connections. This time it's not vikings but people from a mde up duchy close to germany. It is a classic Preacher story starting in St. Louis with someone needing his help going out in the wilderness. It has what one expects in a western and it is entertaining as it usually is with Preacher, I would however read more about him in a later time. I must thank Netgalley and kensington Books for the advance copy.

[Prof. Purple · Rating 3 out of 5]

The American West, as chronicled in fiction, is an arena of paradoxes: civilization against wilderness, law against lawlessness, progress against the immutable rhythms of nature. No figure embodies this conflict more fully than the mountain man—a breed of loner whose moral code is older than any law imposed by men in suits. In Preacher’s Strike, William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone once again summon their legendary protagonist, Preacher, to face a world that has yet to decide whether it is ruled by order or by the iron law of survival.

Preacher, like all great Western heroes, is less a character than a force of nature. He is a man whose virtues—self-reliance, loyalty, and an unbending sense of justice—place him at odds with both villains and civilization itself. Preacher’s Strike does not seek to reinvent its hero; rather, it reaffirms the Western ethos that has made him enduring: that in a world where the strong prey upon the weak, there are still men who will stand between them.
The Narrative: A Man, a Conflict, and the Harsh Frontier

The Preacher series thrives on a simple but effective premise: trouble finds Preacher, and he ensures that trouble regrets it. Preacher’s Strike follows this time-honored structure, setting up a conflict that tests both his skills as a fighter and his commitment to the rugged morality that defines him. The villains—whether outlaws, corrupt officials, or men too foolish to know better—are dangerous, but not as dangerous as the man they have unwittingly challenged.

The pacing is deliberate, mixing bursts of violence with moments of quiet tension. The Johnstones understand that a Western is not merely about gunfights, but about the atmosphere of impending conflict, the slow build of tension before the inevitable showdown. Preacher’s Strike executes this balance well, ensuring that the stakes feel real, the conflicts personal, and the resolution earned.
Characterization: Preacher as an Unyielding Force

Preacher does not evolve. He does not need to. Like Shane, Rooster Cogburn, or the nameless gunslinger of Leone’s Dollars Trilogy, he is defined by what he does, not by how he changes. He is not a man seeking redemption or self-discovery; he is a man who simply understands that, in an untamed world, justice must sometimes be delivered with a rifle and a steady hand.

The supporting cast, though less mythic, serves its purpose. Some characters seek protection, some seek revenge, and others, foolishly, seek to test Preacher’s patience. None, however, dominate the story in the way Preacher does—nor should they. A Preacher novel is not about moral complexity; it is about moral certainty, about the clear line between those who would do harm and those who will not allow it.
The Johnstone Prose: Straightforward, Gritty, and Unsentimental

The Johnstones write with the efficiency of a well-aimed rifle shot. There are no unnecessary flourishes, no indulgent asides. The prose is as rugged as its protagonist, designed not to distract from the story but to propel it forward.

Dialogue is similarly lean, reflecting the no-nonsense world of the frontier. Preacher does not waste words, nor do those who know better than to test him. The conversations are terse, charged with the understanding that in a land where every man is armed, words carry the weight of action.
Themes: Justice, Revenge, and the Costs of Civilization

If Preacher’s Strike has a message, it is the same message that has animated Westerns for generations: that civilization, for all its promises, is often unable to protect the people who depend on it. The law is too slow, too compromised, too weak. In its absence, men like Preacher serve as the last line of defense, enforcing a justice that is older than any legal code.

But the novel does not glorify violence—it recognizes it as necessary, but costly. Preacher does not kill for pleasure, nor does he seek out conflict. But when it comes, he does not hesitate. This is the ethos of the Western hero: not the absence of morality, but the understanding that in a brutal world, morality must sometimes be enforced at the end of a gun barrel.
Final Verdict: A Standard Western or a Standout Entry?

Preacher’s Strike does not seek to redefine the Western, nor does it need to. It delivers precisely what its readers expect: a rugged, action-driven tale of frontier justice, centered around a hero who is as unwavering as the mountains themselves. For fans of the Preacher series, it is another satisfying entry in the saga. For newcomers, it is a fine introduction to one of the most enduring figures in modern Western fiction.

Ultimately, Preacher’s Strike succeeds because it understands its genre. It is not a meditation on the changing West, nor a lament for a dying way of life. It is a story about a man who does what must be done, in a world that still needs men like him. And in that, it is as timeless as the Western itself.

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

Preacher’s Strike is the next book in the series featuring of course preacher by William W Johnstone and Jay.A Johnstone. Preacher, dog and horse are heading back up the mountain when preacher stops in to have a beer and meets a man named Jeffrey Van Warren, sent by the Elpine royalty to find his cousin and wants preacher to lend him a hand. at first preacher is absolutely against this idea, but after a bar fight, and Jeffrey saves preacher’s life, he feels inclined to help. it seems an American wisk his cousin Charlene away from Alpine and they haven’t seen her since and Jeffrey desperately wants to bring her home. After they fix up the wagons with provisions little do they know someone is watching them, and scares up a gang to follow them, thinking they will hold Jeffrey for ransom and become rich but first they will have to attend with high cloud and his Warriors) a man named Bellamy gets suckered in to the gang and doesn’t want to be there in little. Does everyone know he is a native alpine in no relation to Charlene and Jeffrey though but he isn’t the only one hiding secrets and before it’s over, preacher will know the whole story and be shocked by it all. this is definitely a western full of gun fights twist turns and surprises and it’s one I thoroughly enjoyed. I found it a little bit different from most but not so different. It doesn’t feel like a Johnstone western. They’re always entertaining, engaging and hold your attention and this one definitely does that.#NetGalley, #KensingtonBooks, #WilliamWJohnstone, #JJohnstone, #PreachersStrike,

[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.

[Gerald Matzke · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story of the Old West where deceit and greed rule the day. The main character, known as Preacher, is hired by a wealthy European to lead him West from St. Louis to find his cousin, who had left home to travel to the United States with a man she loved who had plans to become a trapper in the mountains. The Preacher is about the only person in the story who has nothing to hide. The other principal characters have hidden agendas. Traveling West usually involves encountering Native Americans who disliked any white man because they were spoiling the land. There were many battles as well as many surprises. Actually I felt that there were too many battles with the Injuns as the story unfolded and that explains the four-star rating. It was exciting and kept you reading to find out what was going to happen but the many fights reduced the number of characters left in the story but also reduced my enjoyment of the tale of the Old West.

[Jacqui · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of all the westerns from the William Johnstone Universe, the Preacher stories is my favorite and this one--Preacher's Strike (Pinnacle 2024) didn’t disappoint. Preacher is a legendary and timeless mountain man, part of an extended family in Johnstone's Universe that includes ranchers, bounty hunters, former outlaws, and more. In this story, Preacher is hired to help a European royal find his cousin who was swept away by a shyster with promises of a life to exceed the boredom of her royal entrapments. When they disappear into the young nation of America, her cousin sets out to find her, rescue her if need be. The clues are thin but Preacher has worked with less. He sets out into the wild untamed wilderness with a personally-selected team of similar mountain men type folk, picked because a rough, dangerous world is nothing new to them. As promised, they run into everything that makes these Johnstone classic westerns the best around including Preacher's unexpectedly clever conniving to solve problems.

Overall an excellent read with lots of surprises and enough left at the end I wouldn’t be surprised if there isn't a sequel.

[patrick Lorelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

The preacher is hired by a foreigner to go out West and look for a relative who ran away from their country to America with this man. After gathering the men he takes off and they begin to find out more about what happened and what they are looking for. There is also another story about a young fellow who is at a college and then has to leave and ends up with a group of robbers and now they are following Preacher and his group wanting to take the man who hired Preacher. Many different characters and different situations but the story works and you have a good ending as well.

[David Burnworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Preacher again decides to help an English man, and hell is all Preacher gets for being nice. A band of Sioux seems to have Pracher and his party trapped, and all looks lost, until a mean-looking bunch of men show up and help Pracher and his party escape. From there, Preacher knows something is up with the men, who saved him and his party, and the hell slowly starts getting hotter until there is a big, shocking explosion of an ending to this 5-star story.

[Dawn L Yohannan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t read enough of these….

I can’t read enough of these wonderful stories. I swear I read them until my eyes are so tired I can’t stay awake anymore.

[Nancy Brady · Rating 4 out of 5]

i love any book with Preacher in it

[Kenneth Ekker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good written book

This was written a better than the last one. I never did finish reading the last one, it really badly written.

[Nolan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining. I wonder if there will be a Bellamy Buckland series in the future.

[Meta · Rating 3 out of 5]

My husband and I listen to this series on road trips.

[Rob Smith, Jr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

2024 has been the year of the Johnstone Clan taking trails west. I doubt this was coordinated. My concern is that it might not have been as the Clan has been straying from the more focused plotting Johnstone, himself, had. Worse, the plotting is getting more and more repetitive through the various series. That and the Preacher character has softened considerably in recent novels in contrast to those from the first 25 years of books.

Of the Johnstone books traveling west in 2024 this is the 2nd best of the lot...so far. There's still time to get a few more in before the end of the year.

One bit out of character for Preacher is how he gets swept up into wagon train. I know it was the key to make the story charge on, but Preacher looked the prized sucker from the start.
Beyond that, the story is well done and paced considering how easy it is to get drawn out in narrative with drawn out plots. There being a couple layers added to the base wagon trail story gives readers to wonder how the story closes threads beyond if the train arrives at it's intended destination.

To me, the Johnstone Clan should've shuttled the story in place of one of the other recent Johnstone wagon trail books, either independently or in the new 'Go West' series.

Bottom line: i recommend this book. 7 out of ten points.