Manslaughter

Shawn O'Brien #2

by William W. Johnstone, J.A. Johnstone

The Greatest Western Writer Of The 21st Century

From America's bestselling Western authors comes the violent saga of the frontier legend known as the Town the man who rides in when all attempts of law and order have failed.

Shawn O'Brien--Taming A Town Held Hostage By The Devil

In Broken Bridle, Wyoming, Jeremiah Purdy, the town's tinhorn sheriff is a college kid who wants to become governor some day. But outlaw Darius Pike couldn't care less about anyone else's ambitions. With Pike holding Broken Bridle in a bloody grip of terror, Purdy sends a desperate cry for help--to Shawn O'Brien, town tamer. Shawn's ride to Wyoming and pry Broken Bridle loose from Pike's reign of fear. What Shawn finds is that something even more evil than Pike is haunting Broken Brindle. Now, in a storm of bullets and blood, in a deal with the devil, Shawn O'Brien can only tame this town by entering hell itself. . .

Genres: Westerns

336 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published February 24, 2015

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 1 out of 5]

To give a 1⭐️ rating is rare for me; to give a 1-star rating to a Johnstone book - omg, I didn't think that would ever happen as I have read and enjoyed so many offerings by this author.

Hugely disappointed in this book due to the mass amount killing. Killing just for the sake of killing. An insane former psychiatrist who brutally kills and tortures. Shawn O'Brien rides into town to save it but kills and gets into fights aplenty. Various other characters including 2 hired assassins, more and more senseless stupid killing. Enter the Chinese hoards, either being attacked or taking part in killing. Nearly 10 hrs of this on an audiobook - my mind was fried, it was getting so boring I didn't even care how it ended. To me, none of the characters were particularly likeable - some were downright evil. The characters were flat and predictable. What a waste.

The book should have been named MASS Senseless Murder.

[Robert Kaul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not one of the best

[Kevin Downer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The "Town Tamer" kicking ass and taking names. Solid western with some great action.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A shootum-up western with lots of people dying and some very bad villains. It kept my interest long enough to finish it.

[Phillip · Rating 3 out of 5]

After Shawn O'Brien-Town Tamer, I anxiously awaited this, the sequel. Johnstone's characters are all unique in their own way, but I find Shawn O'Brien to be very different from the rest of these tough protagonists. O'Brien is the most human, the most selfless, the most concerned with making the world and others a better place. Yet, he is as tough as all the other Johnstone gun-fighters...Flintlock, Morgan, Macallister, and others. In this novel, O'Brien, and his "sidekick," Hamp Sedley, find themselves in Broken Bridle, a dying town just outside of Rattlesnake Hills, which is "haunted" in a sense by a psychotic former psychiatrist who was put out of business for essentially killing four out of every five of his patients with his "tough love" approach to curing mental illness. Unfortunately, love didn't play much of a role in Clouston's treatment of his patients, and his sadism only intensifies when he holds up in Rattlesnake Hills with his band of losers and hired hands bent on destroying the town. O'Brien, of course, as a "town tamer," wants to save the town, despite the fact that gambling, prostitution, and drinking have the town on its last legs.
The pace moves relatively quickly. Much happens in this novel, and we are introduced to a number of characters who are interesting and well developed in their own right. Some come and die quickly, and others stick around awhile for us to take a vested interest in. Plenty of action occurs throughout the novel, and, like Town Tamer #1, this is fairly well written. I was impressed with the prose, particularly the exceptional description. I don't usually expect to encounter as many thoughtful similes and metaphors as I did in this novel. I even highlighted several of them, which almost never happens in one of these western novels. Let's face it...with the exception of True Grit, a few Louis Lamour novels, and perhaps a few others, westerns are not known as classic literature. Nevertheless, the dialogue rang true, and overall this was well written and not as cliched as some of these ghostwritten Johnstone novels are. Together with Flintlock, Shawn O'Brien is a series I am truly enjoying, and I cannot wait for the next installment. At the end of this one, the hero succeeds, of course, but not without significant loss, both in lives and even his hope for the future. O'Brien is genuinely distraught at what he believes is his failure to save Broken Bridle, and the last we see him, he is being taken back home to, I believe, his father's New Mexico ranch, to recover from the deep depression he is suffering from. I don't think any of that should qualify as a spoiler, by the way. The hero never dies in these novels; we all know that.
In any event, I read this quickly, and was well satisfied at the end. In fact, I would easily read it again just for the pure pleasure and enjoyment of watching the bad guys get what they deserve. I am grateful the Johnstone estate allows his old manuscripts and outlines to be written and published, and I look forward to each successive novel that comes out. This one is worth reading.

[Jerry Blackerby · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book in the Town Tamer series I have read. I have really enjoyed books about the O’Brien family but not as much on this particular one. The story is a little weird in places. Still enjoyable reading, just not quite to my tastes.

[Barry Edstene]

Great story, Johnstone is a master in the craft. I have read all the greats From Elmore Leonard, and L'Amour to Zane Gray, and Johnstone can take a well deserved seat at the table and share a drink with the best of them. Thanks for a great ride

[Jeff]

dang good

[Jerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Small town problems

A lot of killing! No wonder there are a lot of ghost towns in the. West! Good Guys sometimes lost.

[Glen J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Guns, gold, greed

Another great read by Mr Johnstone. An interesting twist with a mad psychiatrist who demonstrates a rather strange if brutal cure for insanity.

[larry brashear · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good Book!

I liked this book but it is not among his best. Actually i had to force myself to finish it.

[Darren]

Enjoyed