Honor of the Mountain Man

The Last Mountain Man #20

by William W. Johnstone

USA Today bestselling Smoke Jensen aims to bring justice to a town taken over by the lawless—with a little help from his .45 . . .A short ride to hellOutlaw Joe Wales has a score to settle in find Jacob Murdock and the band of vaqueros who attacked his wife and drown them in their own stinking blood. But when Wales's hunting party is ambushed, the only gunfighter he can count on for cover is Smoke Jensen, the trigger-ready legend of the High Lonesome. Jensen's more than willing to strap on a brace of .45s to help out his friend—especially if it involves nailing some dirty renegades to the wall.Things are tougher than Jensen imagined. Murdock and his men aren't just hiding out in Pueblo—they've taken it over. Outnumbered in a town of desperados, Smoke is numero uno on Murdock's most-wanted list. But even with a price on his head, Smoke can still dole out his own unforgiving brand of justice. And when the sun goes down, he's going to take them on one by one, and blow each and every hide back to hell.

Genres: Westerns, Fiction

288 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1998

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

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title: Honor of the Mountain Man
Series: Mountain Man, #20)
Author: William W.Johnstone
Genre: western
Pages:288 pages

Smoke Jensen has a new mission - to help outlaw Joe Wales avenge the death of his wife. Outnumbered or not, Smoke is going to help his old friend track down the savages responsible for the crime.

My thoughts'
rating: 5
Would I recommend this series: yes
Would I read anything else by this author: a big yes
Once again a hit for this series, love reading it even if I am reading it out of order but i have no trouble understand what is going on, can't wait to read more by him and of this series. With that said I want to say thanks to Netgalley for letting me read and review it exchange for my honest opinion.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed Honor of the Mountain Man and recommend it for readers who love western stories. 5 stars.

[Rob Smith, Jr. · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was easy to recognize this Johnstone Clan writer. Whoever it is keeps Pearlie & Cal and drops Bobby. Also the cursing is prevalent. First in the series i recall to use, more than once, the "F" word. Generally the dialogue is more late 2oth century than late 19th. Also the sexual content increases with this writer.

This is one of the worse in the entire Johnstone Clan books. The actual writing is not all that bad. It's the plotting and strong inconsistency in the Smoke Jensen series that dunks this book. What's wild is that the title, as usual disconnected with the book, is hard to find in the book. The dressed up good guys perform so many dis-honorable acts, it is hard to see Smoke as a good guy at all.

Not that the book has to have good guys or bad guys for a first time reader. It was hard for me to root for either side and found myself wishing both sides would leave the town alone.

I forgot to write this is still another "treeing" of a town book. How is it the rest of the Johnstone Clan series can find other plots to present and the Smoke Jensen series is almost 75% about "treeing' towns. This is the 19th in the series I've read.

The character development is there. Too much there via flashbacks. There are far too many flashbacks to other books that have no relation to the actual plot, if you want to call it that. I wonder if the flashbacks were originally part of the book or if, due to the excessive violence in the book, the flashbacks were added to calm things a bit.

About the violence: there is a lot and not for a reader in the midst of dinner. Sure there was violence in battle and it can be written. Violence can also be written with less sensation and anger as is presented here. This, along with the cursing, is a huge divergence from the Smoke Jensen series. Maybe this shoulda been written as part of another series? Or was it and converted for Smoke Jensen? Whatever the reason it is all poorly handled and most is repeated over and over again.

Bottom line: I don't recommend this book: 3 out of 10 points.

[Paul F. · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Honor of the Mountain Man" by William W. Johnstone simply contains too much violence. The plot is standard Western fare, nuanced, of course. Smoke Jensen and Joey Wells are two cowboys (note: NOT mountain men--the title is a misrepresentation) who are out to battle one Jacob Murdock and his machete-wielding compadre, Emilio Vasquez, who plan to terrorize the town of Pueblo, Colorado. Vasquez had previously tried to kill Wells' wife and son at their ranch in Mexico, so Joey is thirsting for revenge. The problem with this novel is that Johnstone relies upon excessive violence rather than an intriguing plot line, to lead readers on. The ending is entirely predictable. There is extensive gunfighting, for those who enjoy that sort of thing. There are vivid descriptions of men, good as well as bad, being shot in the face, in the mouth, in the eye, and (mercifully) having half or all of their heads blown off and dying instantly. Smoke and Joey are the stereotypical Western heroes, and they play their roles to the mx, without somehow getting killed while others all around them are being blasted apart. There is a lot of backstory, without it being clear that that is what it is, for those who haven't read other novels in the series.

[Kevin Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good people think of others

Oh boy. This story is the best I have read so far. Smoke Jensen really impressed me as a great man. Always wanting to help his friends with any problems they have. I was teary eyed on the last pages of this book, because of what smoke gave to Joey wells and his family, and you will to.

[Jeffery · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story started out with a character named Joey Wells who had fought redlegs which is very similar to the story of the outlaw Josey Wales. At first, I had to check to see if I was reading the right book, I was. What I like about Johnstone’s mountain man series is that those characters are so eccentric and this novel did not disappoint.

[larry brashear · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Book!

Well written and edited while at the same time thrilling, interesting and exciting. Wish our modern day slime would have to pay for their wicked lived live the ones in this tale.

[David Burnworth]

Joey Wells as you will quickly learn was a man to ride the rive with and with the help of Smoke and his friends, they plowed through the bad guys and got revenge for the Wells family. Puma dying was hard because he had become a mainstay in the series.

[Richard Guerrero · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoy the 20th book of the smoke Jensen series.

[Larry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great Smoke Jensen adventure, well done !!

[Ralph Schable · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pure fun

This is a purely dime novel read. Or pulp fiction if you are younger. All brass and sass. A western harkening to the pure joy of westerns.

[Michael Connell · Rating 5 out of 5]

These books are a lot of fun to read how the west was tamed.

[ted tull · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honor of the Mountain Man

Smoke Jensen at his finest. I don't think there can be many bad guys for the John stones to write about. A great book once again.

[Randy · Rating 4 out of 5]

the cover of this book showes the story very well. there are 4 cowboys ridding over an open ridge with a heavily timbered ridge of in the distance behind them. the sky is a bright blue with bi white fluffy clouds scattered all around. you can not see the cowboys faces just the black outlines of them.


2/16/11
5 sentance summary

so far i'm really enjoying this book smoke jensen and joey wells are trying to stop the no good acts of sam murdock. they were on there way back to thiere ranck the rocking c and there was 4 of murdocks men waiting to ambush and kill them. joey seen the glint of moon light reflecting off a gun barrel in the rocks. so joey and smoke snuck into the trees and up to where the 4 men were hidding. joey snuck in on one side and smoke took the other side and they killed 3 of them and knocked the other one out and take him back to the ranch.

[Terry · Rating 1 out of 5]

Quite possibly his worst effort to date with Peckinpah-like violence and the same old tired plot line. The characters are almost caricatures of their former selves. Sorry J.W., this isn't very good.

[Cindy Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Smoke Jenson story.....not sure i liked all of the reminescing, but otherwise a good story.

[Peter Charleston · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice casual western to read. Smoke Jensen and Joey Wells combine their efforts to save a Colorado town. Plenty of shoot-em-ups!

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good western series. The story of Smoke Jensen, trained by the last of the mountain men as a boy. If you like men's adventure and westerns then you will enjoy the series. Recommended