Bloody Sunday

Luke Jensen: Bounty Hunter #3

by William W. Johnstone, J.A. Johnstone

The Greatest Western Writer Of The 21st Century

In the bestselling novels of William W. Johnstone, mountain man Smoke Jensen is a legend. Now, Johnstone presents the adventures of Smoke's long-lost brother Luke, who was reported killed during the Civil War. The war is over and Luke is very much alive, his soul forged by the violence he witnessed on the battlefields. His job is now tracking down the worst outlaws--by any means necessary.

Protect The Innocent

Gloria Jennings went on the run when she was accused of murdering her wealthy husband back east. And when she's accused of killing her new rancher husband in West Texas, Luke is able to track her down. But when he does, he surprises himself by not bringing her in--and actually helping her face down rival ranchers and other threats. Getting to know her, Luke doesn't believe Gloria is a killer. But there are others that do. And when they show, Luke is going to have to go gun to gun with a pack of ruthless manhunters out for blood--and blood money. But another, even more vicious enemy is coming. A secret enemy from Gloria's past who wants her dead at all costs. And it's up to Luke and his lightning hands to make sure that doesn't happen. . .

Genres: Westerns, Fiction

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 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

[Laur · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bounty hunter Luke, is on his way to bring in a young and beautiful, smart, tough widowed WOMAN, that offers a $5000 reward for her capture. Accused of killing her 1st husband, 3 months later, her 2nd has been shot and murdered too! Is this woman a cold blooded killer, or does the law have it all wrong?

Luke has to keep secrets and stick it out long enough to find the truth and act accordingly- even doing so while his own life is in grave danger!

Love the premise of this one! The same ol’ same ol’ usually has a bounty hunter hunting a man (or men)... Kudo’s to the Johnstone’s mixing it up!

4.5 Stars

[Barbara Lee Wood]

GLORY

Luke Jensen bounty hunter just discovered the where whereabouts of a killer on the run from Baltimore, Maryland. Of course, she didn't murder her husband and steal one hundred thousand dollars, but that was missing...I bet it was the stepson!!!
Luke Jensen helps Glory save her ranch and prove who !murdered her latest husband, owner of the MC ranch.
Action packed, a backstabbing stepson Hugh Jennings, who killed his father because he had embezllled the missing one hundred thousand dollars from his father who was going to report him to the law..Papa had to go, where's the love??
Your typical plot bad stepson, greedy rancher and wanted by the law, dirty town deputies who took bribes..Oh yes ambushers, your typical everyday events what completes the life on the frontier.
It's still a great adventure including the names of some of these characters, who'll make you laugh, because the authors explains how they got those monikers.

[Jerry Blackerby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great Johnstone book. Since W.W. Johnstone died and his nephew J.A. Johnstone has been carrying on writing the books that he had planned, J.A. has done a fantastic job. I have loved almost all that I have read.

[Sable · Rating 4 out of 5]

So if you've been keeping track of my reviews, you're probably thinking to yourself right now: "What, a Western? Doesn't that break the pattern a little bit?"

Okay, so it goes like this:

I'm part of a writer's group that meets at the local library. And we critique each others' work. A consistent criticism I got back when I submitted my latest story, a Weird West yarn, was that it was too high fantasy, and not enough Western, in its tone. One of my friends suggested that I should read some Westerns to try to capture that feel. Admittedly, it's been a while since I read one -- I think I may still have been a teenager -- so I figured that was a good idea. I marched downstairs and near the bathrooms, the library puts out the pocket books they're purging because they're too damaged or because they have too many copies, which they sell to the library clients for 25 cents each. I grabbed the first Western I found -- it might have been a Longarm, I really didn't care -- and I paid for it and left.

But, I figured I had heard of this author but had not read any of his material, so I thought he'd be a good idea to start with to see how Westerns had changed since I last read one. Fortunately for me, this book happened to be by William W. Johnstone and his nephew, who are fine writers with a lot of talent and a deft skill applied to this genre.

I read a lot of Westerns when I was in high school. I read a metric crapton of Louis L'Amour, for example; and I think I watched just about every spaghetti Western ever made at my Mormon friend's house. I suppose that might sound odd from me, since I read mostly sci-fi/fantasy. But perhaps it will give you some insight when I explain that my second-favourite genre is historical fiction adventure. I'm a dedicated fan of Patrick O'Brian, for example. I guess I just like stories about regular people dealing with exotic situations, is what it comes down to.

So what do I look for in a story? I look for likable characters that I can believe in, well-realized in a setting that breathes. I never want to ask myself, "Well, why the hell did he do that?" I want the character to be so real to me that I understand his motivations instantly, and if I don't, I want it to be because the viewpoint character doesn't understand, not because the writer doesn't make it clear to me.

No worries here. Johnstone's bounty hunter is a "ride-into-the-sunset" cowboy with a touch of PTSD from the Civil War that keeps him from settling down; but like any good Western protagonist, he keeps to his own code even at great cost to himself, and does what is right, not what is legal (necessarily) or what's expected of him.

There's a lot of good old-fashioned Western cliches in this story. The Spirited Dame (who is actually very well realized; you cannot accuse Johnstone of the sexism that permeates the work of many of his predecessors), the Sheriff Who Dislikes the Hero, the Evil Big Rancher, and so forth. But it works. And it works well. And to some degree, we like the predictability of it. As I recently observed on my blog, pulp fiction may be making a comeback, and the age of "grim-for-grim's-sake-because-grim-is-sophisticated" may be over. The world gives us enough to be grim about. I want to believe that the good guy is going to win for a few hours!

Quite enjoyable, read quickly, and reminded me of everything I liked about the Western genre. I have already sought out more books by Johnstone. If you're looking for a good example of a well-written Western, you've found it here. If you like the genre, or you wanted to give it a try but didn't know where to start, I recommend it strongly.

[David Burnworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Glory Jennings has a 5,000 dollar bounty on her and Luke is planning on getting the big payday. The path leads to West Texas, where Luke discovers the Glory is using another name and is speculated of killing her new husband. Luke meets Glory after he is almost killed on her property. Once Luke gets the whole story he decides to help Glory save her ranch and from there he will decide what he is going to do about the bounty. The story builds from there leaving you, the reader on the edge of your seat. I won't give any more than this away. When all looks lost a group of heroes show up to try and save the day.

[Derrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first one I've read in this series. I love the connection points between Johnstone's characters and it would be curious to see a map of everything. This story was typical Johnstone style, but Luke has his own flavor, which is cool. It's hard not to compare each character to another book for sure, but he had his own style. I still like the 'good guy' feel that Johnstone's characters have.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

A $5,000 bounty on a beautiful woman charged with murder - just a start.

The Bounty Hunter is curious enough to head for the large bounty offered for this unusual woman, but he not about to be snookered into believing she was innocent of killing her Boston husband or her wealthy rancher husband. It all seemed part of a pattern. Page-turning action, great characters, classic old west, and well worth the time.

[Monty · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly I didn't think the story held water so to say.. like trying to get a proper drink from a cup with holes in it.

Add to that the story just felt iffy. Over the top silly and just questionable.. way to close to penny dreadful.

Then though mayhap that's what the authors are aiming for.

[Douglas Fugate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Luke searches for a widow with a $5000 reward on her head. He get entangled in a range war in West Texas. There are fist fights, ambushes, plenty of action and with Luke, a little classical discussion on the side.

[John Bishop · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

Another action packed story with plenty of adventure and intrigue. Luke has his hands full trying to balance the storyline he's been told against what his own eyes and experience have seen. A different old west tale that keeps the pages turning.

[Ted Cartier · Rating 3 out of 5]

another book in this series. Not as good as some of the earlier ones.

[papasteve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Again, lots of action, a really bad guy, and a really pretty woman. This series puts you on the back of horse and doesn’t let you stop riding.

[Glenda M. Hopkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read.

I'd recommend this book to all ! Even if you not a western fan. It's that good. Although, I would have done some things a little different.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audible Audiobooks

[Bill Leonard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book

I really enjoyed this read. Great characters and a good story. These Luke Jenson series are always pretty good and I would suggest this one for sure

[Sean Furey · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fairly entertaining white hat/black hat western centered around a good old fashioned Texas land grab. It has horses, canyons, guns, and more horses. So I liked it.

[James Mayfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book in this series.

Attention grabbing and something different on each page. The characters were spot on with their reactions to the story and original story.

[Naomi Warden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gun fights/shoot outs are always a specialty of the author. He writes them with such clarity, I envisioned them perfectly - including the sights, smells of powder, and sounds of gunfire. I really enjoyed Blood Sunday, this book has plenty of action and adventure. Johnstone keeps you guessing if Glory McCrae really did murder her husband in Baltimore. Awesome Shoot-em up!!

Although this is the 3rd book in the Luke Jensen: Bounty Hunter series, by William W. Johnstone, I was pleased that I did not have to read the earlier books to fully understand and enjoy this one. It can definitely be read alone. 

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable addition to the Luke Jensen series. Well written, good characters and interesting plot. I felt you got to know Luke a bit better with this book, and I like the things we learned. Very good Western tale.

[Frode · Rating 2 out of 5]

OK, lots of action, a little drama, not much else. It was a quick afternoon read.