The Best of Enemies

Trace and Chaw #1

by William W. Johnstone, J.A. Johnstone

JOHNSTONE COUNTRY. WHERE OLD ENEMIES UNITE . . . TO FIGHT A BLOODIER KIND OF WAR.

Introducing Trace and Chaw: a pugnacious pair of Civil War veterans who nearly killed each other in battle—but lived to fight another day. Together . . . .

They met in a bloodbath. Two demons in uniform caught in the middle of one hell of a war. Private Chaw, the Rebel, liked chewing tobacco and fighting blue-bellied Yanks. Private Trace, the Yankee, hated Southerners, especially ornery cusses like Chaw. But when the smoke cleared after the Battle of Deadeye Gap, the Blue and the Gray of their uniforms didn’t matter anymore. Both were stained blood red. And both were the last men standing . . .

This was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Now that the war’s over, Trace and Chaw travel the West together, taking on odd jobs. They’re handy with six-guns and gut-shredders, fond of women and liquor, and always ready to raise hell. Somehow, the unlikely partnership works—until Trace and Chaw sign up with a freighting company run by a beautiful woman. Her company is caught in the crossfire of two rival mine owners who want to control the freight routes. Like it or not, Trace and Chaw are stuck in the middle of another war. And this one’s going to be every bit as bloody—and maybe their last. . . .

Genres: Historical Fiction

344 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 26, 2025

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

[Nancy Brady · Rating 3 out of 5]

love the new characters. the book was ok, but i am spoiled as preacher and the jensens are my favorite

[Walter Breyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too much banter….

…..and endless one-upmanship between these two mismatched former enemies. Finally gave up three-quarters of the way through after being unable to abide any more meaningless dialogue in this very awkward and slow-moving story. I liked the cover but even that was misrepresented. The Union soldier is shown with the rank of lieutenant. His actions in battle, operating as a lone rifleman, in command of nothing, suggest he held no rank, much less that of an officer. Please don't waste your time on this one, as I have.

[Donald Paulsrud · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not Johnstone's best. This is a new series so I may give the 2nd book a shot. The story line was very slow developing and the the 2 main characters were not very interesting. I wish he would have spent more time developing the characters timelines. To jump ahead so many years made it hard to get invested in the 2 main characters.

[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.

[Bill Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently won a copy of The Best of Enemies by William W Johnstone in a Goodreads giveaway. Having read many of Johnston's Western I was pretty sure I knew what to expect. I wasn't wrong. It is a story of two people who met during the Civil War and tried their best to kill each other and ended up becoming best friends and traveling in the west. They have adventures and I'm sure future books will tell those tales. It is a standard western formula that works very well for readers with good guys you can root for and bad guys you can't wait to see get filled with lead. It is a Goodread.

[Steve Ring · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe I have read too many thrillers where the primary goal seems to be getting the main character as close to death as possible without killing him or her, but the whole first part of this book is a fight with that purpose. It gets tedious and boring — oh, another blow, another Knick, etc. This book is slow moving and basically simple in plot. The dialogue is also tedious. I started to scan, and that is what I recommend for this book. I don’t think I will continue this series.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

The beginning fight scene, then semi truce between Trace and Chaw was great! A fun introduction to them. But after that I didn't think the characters were as fun as I'd hoped... not like Preacher and Smoke Jensen! Too much folksy banter between them.

[Susanne · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF These two just don’t seem like they’re friends. And the dialogue grated. It’s almost like a totally different person wrote this one, it’s so unlike past books by this author. (But maybe that’s just me.)

You might want to try it at the library first to make sure it’s the book for you.

[Mary Shellhammer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won from #Good Reads. It was a good book. A cross between historical fiction and western, quite good.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I expected this was a fun and exciting book to read by an author that captivates the West like no other!

[Matthew Main · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not their best western. It would have made a good start to a screen play, but still entertaining to read.