A Good Day for a Massacre

Slash & Pecos #2

by William W. Johnstone, J.A. Johnstone

Johnstone Country. Where it’s never quiet on the Western front.  Life on the straight and narrow is easier said than done for a pair of crooks like Jimmy “Slash” Braddock and Melvin “Pecos Kid” Baker. But these reprobates are doing their damnedest to make an honest go of it. They’ve managed to safely deliver a church organ to a mountain parish when their sometime employer—Chief U.S. Marshal Luther T. “Bleed-’m-So” Bledsoe—recruits them for a job only fools would take.Marshal Bledsoe wants them to pick up a shipment of gold in the mining town in the Sawatch Mountains. Here’s the Slash and Pecos’s wagon is just a decoy. When a ruthless gang ambushes the real gold shipment, it’s up to Slash and Pecos to go after the trigger-happy bandits. And they won’t be alone. A lady Pinkerton, Hattie Friendly—who is anything but—survived the ambush and is hellbent on getting the gold back. Even if she has to team up with a pair of ornery old cutthroats like Slash and Pecos. . . .The Cutthroats are back. The bad guys are history.Live Free. Read Hard.

Genres: Westerns

385 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 25, 2020

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

[Greg O'Byrne · Rating 2 out of 5]

First, I like Westerns and I'm always up to try a new one out.

Second, I really don't like ragging on authors because ANYONE that can get to "The End" of their writing a novel and get it published gets mad props in my world. So I'll try not to be too hard on the mysterious author.

Because you see, this book wasn't written by William W. Johnstone, he died. If you read the title page you get this:

"...the Johnstone family is working with a carefully selected writer to organize and complete Mr. Johnstone's outlines and many unfinished manuscripts to create additional novels..."

and..
"This novel was inspired by Mr. Johnstone's superb storytelling."

Well the whole book is a mess of love stories gone wrong and missed character opportunities.

The Pinkerton agent Hatie was the biggest opportunity missed. She's a frickin Pinkerton and a lady and someone that tracked Apache's with her dad as a kid - AWESOME backstory. But she's written like a spoiled teenage girl that is kinda stupid. She could have CARRIED the story if she was more like Ripley or Leia or Sarah Connor (T2). Make her strong, smart, kickass and sexy. But well she reads like a little whiny girl the whole time.

It just got tiresome all the women with love issues and the constant relationship discussions and how Slash and Pecos (rough and tough 50 year olds) seem to catch the eye of all the ladies.

Somewhere in all that there was a western heist plot.

Sorry for the downer.

I like Johnstone's books, but I will carefully make sure I read books HE has written, not this ghost-writer.

[Bill Riggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

The two former cutthroats, Slash and the Pecos River Kid, face the biggest challenge of their new straight and narrow lives - guard a hundred thousand dollars worth of gold bullion instead of stealing it.
When a ruthless band of outlaws ambush them and their shipment, they are forced to team with a female Pinkerton agent hellbent on tracking the bandits down.

[Nolan · Rating 3 out of 5]

J.A. Johnstone, the niece of William Johnston (who by the way passed away October 15, 2010) popped out another story of Slash and Pecos. Will Slash get the nerve up to ask the woman, Jaycee Breckenridge to marry him or will he chicken out? Good story. Two young "purty" female law officers added was interesting also.

[Bow Chambers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slash and Pecos are back and even better than ever. This book goes for a more slower pace and favors fleshing out the duo more in this adventure. Hattie was a welcome edition giving the duo an outsider to bounce off of. All in all it stacks up with the first novel making it a very good entry to the ongoing series.

[Michael T. Spilker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book #2

Great story!!! Totally opposite of what I thought it was going to be about. Great ending and I’m now wanting to read more. Very happy with this series so far. I would recommend this book along with the entire series to read.

[John Bishop · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great series

Another great series by a terrific author. I was unsure when I read the beginning of the first book in this series if it would be for me but I'm glad I stuck with it as I definitely have been hooked. Great stuff. Looking forward to book three.

[Todd · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Best In Western/Action Fiction!!!

Once again the amazingly talented writing duo of William W. Johnstone and his nephew/protege J.A. Johnstone delivers the absolute best ever western/action fiction. Western/Action fiction gets no better than the newest and second adventure featuring the fun and entertaining duo of Slash and his partner Pecos.

[Richard Riordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good

Venn in OK all km NJ BB BBC. CDC is pop too II II by th rd we we was

[Jodeane D. Ramsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Read...

New series is pretty darn good! I missed the first book and started with the 2 nd. I recommend this series. Slash
and Pecos are the perfect pair and so funny.

[Penny Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was surprised but found it funny at times.

[Derrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't really enjoy the first novel in the series, but this was was good. Different story, though of course very similar to western tales. Hatty made the day.

[Sean Furey · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun and bloody chapter in the Slash & Pecos saga. They are hired to run a shipment of gold to Denver but run afoul of a gang of misanthropes with big plans of their own.