Till Death

Have Brides, Will Travel #3

by William W. Johnstone, J.A. Johnstone

The bestselling Johnstones turn up the heat in their rip-roaring series when four destination weddings attract a cold-blooded ring of scoundrels, killers, for better and for worse...

FOUR JOHNSTONE WEDDINGS--AND A FUNERAL

If anyone can get a shipment of brides to the church on time, it's Bo Creel and Scratch Morton. But this time, they'll have to cross hell and high water to escort four marriage-bound beauties to a remote gold mining town in Alaska. The brides-to-be include a dangerously attractive widow, her sweet-hearted niece, and two of their friends. The roadblocks to the altar include a lecherous saloon owner, a lovesick sailor, and a gang of hired guns. And that's just for starters...

The real trouble begins when they reach the Alaskan boomtown. It's a hotbed of gold and greed, as wild as any Texas frontier. It's clear to Bo and Scratch that the ladies' "eligible bachelors" are definitely not as advertised. But--to Bo and Scratch's surprise--neither are their mail-order brides. Before anyone starts exchanging vows and tossing rice, this gold-hungry wedding party will be swapping lead. And the RSVPs will be RIPs...

Genres: Westerns

384 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published August 24, 2021

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

[Wesley Prothro · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my favorite book in this series. The adventure to Alaska was really fun and the characters were very good. Hope this series keeps going!

[Walter von Dyson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I knew that William W. Johnstone is a big name in the Western genre and I reached for this book to probe his talent -- given its great reviews (4.35 stars?), I set my hopes quite high.

It was a disappointment.

Let's start with the good... The premise is very cool -- two seasoned Texas cowboys set out to escort 4 mail-order brides to a godforsaken hamlet, deep in Alaska. Three of the four women are older, one is about 20 (a niece of one of the older women). OK, that's a believable setup. The author also uses language that functioned back in the day with some phrases and specific words that make the setting of the story sit well with the expectations.

But that's where the good stuff ends.

The main problem of the book is that it's structured as a string of encounters with drunk scoundrels. Each time they run into someone or some group of tough dudes, Bo Creel and Scratch Morton beat the poop out of them and move on with their lives. And what happens between those encounters? Well, almost nothing. Take for example the sailing from Seattle to the mouth of the Yukon river (all the way behind the Aleutian islands) -- almost nothing happens (OK, it rains for a few minutes!). This would be such a great opportunity to add some action, spice, or intrigue to the story! Perhaps one of the two protagonists could have some fun with one of the soon-to-be-a-wife women? Maybe Scratch could teach young Caroline something that would make her a good wife. Maybe there would be some drama among the women themselves? Wouldn't that make the story more readable and memorable? But no, there's absolutely none of that. In fact, we hardly learn anything about two of the four women.

There is a slew of other issues -- the dialogues are artificial, some scenes don't feel complete (e.g. when one of the protagonists jumps into the cold river in the middle of Alaska but somehow doesn't complain about the experience afterwards, etc.) -- so this is definitely not the type of a book deserving anything in the vicinity of 4 stars, much less 5 stars.

The impression I was left with that Bo and Scratch are the sanitized versions of cowboys that are socially-accepted in America -- too proper to show any interest in any (God forbid!) immoral behavior. Sooo BO-RING, it's nauseous.... Perhaps they should have become Christian preachers in the novel to spread the word of Christ in Alaska...

Anyway, one star for the general plot, and the second one for readability (it's a quick read). But it was a disappointment overall. I am not going to reach for any other book by the same author.

[Jo-Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third book in the Have Brides, Will Travel series and this time Bo and Scratch were escorting four women to a remote mining town in Alaska to meet their future husbands. Even though travelling there was dangerous, the men got the beauties to their destination safe and sound. But the trouble was not over by a long shot. It turned out that none of the prospective brides or grooms were who they appeared to be.

It was a good thing Bo and Scratch stayed in town after delivering the women because there was more danger ahead. These old sidewinders had a second sense when trouble was near and were fast on the draw when it found them. They had needed to be good, fast shots many times on this trip.

I liked getting to know these fellows. They had lived exciting lives where trouble found them too often.

This book has romance, adventure and mystery. If you like the old-west style of adventure, this is for you.

[Nolan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starts out like a lot of Johnstone stories. With a train robbery. 🙄 Seems a lot of Johnstone western books start out with a train robbery. Bo and Scratch take four ladies to a small gold settlement up the Yukon River in Alaska to be married. However, there is a little hitch in the story once they all get to this little settlement that makes for a different story. Pretty good read.

[Lary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

It was a good story some humor and decent drama Bo and Scratch always have interesting adventures, well worth the read

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick, fun read.

[Cassie Bateson · Rating 4 out of 5]

You don't need to read the first 2, nothing happens that you need the prior info for.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good old western

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like these old geezer cowboys. They always will in a gunfight. I'm never disappointed.

[Dirk Stone · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a good read

I enjoyed this book. Glad I read it. Lots of action. Probably read it again in the future. Would recommend this book to everyone.

[Captain Basil · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great read! No complaints. I would recommend this one to anyone who likes Westerns and/or adventure fiction. I have always enjoyed these two characters, but this book can be read by newcomers and they will settle right in. Enjoy!