A Man Called Justice

Silent Justice #1

by John Deacon

They left me for dead, but she needed my help...

Justice is a drifter with no fear and no memory, trailed by a violent past.

Nora is a beautiful widow bravely raising her young son on an isolated New Mexican ranch.

When a ruthless cattle baron pushes longhorns into the valley, Justice vows to protect Nora and her boy. But how can he succeed against thirty hired guns… including the four outlaws who left him for dead?

Genres: Westerns, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Audiobook, Suspense, Action

228 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 27, 2022

Reviews

[Murray · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75
Pithy straightforward Old West cast iron writing

Tropes:

*vengeance trail

*left for dead the hero fights back to life with the help of a beautiful woman and hunts down the desperados who tried to do him in

*a cattle baron is forcing ranchers off their acreages so he can swallow up the land for himself

*the baron has many hired guns

*but our hero turns out to be the fastest gun of all

🐎 It’s a fast-paced good guys vs bad guys storyline. But, tbh, too many clichés really. Like he’d absorbed all the cowboy movies and TV shows and books and uses as much of their plot lines as he can. Nevertheless I wish him all the best 🐎

[Fred Barnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW...WHAT A GREAT WESTERN THRILLER.

☆☆☆☆☆

A Man Called Justice: A Classic Western Series with Heart (Silent Justice Book 1) by John Deacon is a western lovers dream when it comes to a great book and hopefully a great series. The suspense and intriguing situations that Justice faces and comes out on top will just blow your mind. Justice is a fictional hero for heroes. His morals and since of justice and his strong will to do what's right for all the right reasons will hook you into the storyline right of the bat.

This first book is the start of the second series that I have had the chance to read. The first was the Kip Callahan series and that hooked me on John Deacon's works. The only thing I wish I would have started with A Man Called Justice series, not that the Kip Callahan series wasn't great but A Man Called Justice was written prior and though you don't need to read A Man Called Justice first, it does give you a little bit more insight and depth into the characters. That being said, the characters are well outlined and easy to follow and you'll find yourself wanting to read more about the SJ's and their form of justice delived with a strong hand, with a fast gun, and a lasting form of justice delived to those who prey on the weaker.

If you love a great western series that is action-packed, full of strong characters, events that are easily to relate to, this book and series is for you. I can honestly say that I was hooked the first book on Kip and I am currently on the second book of A Man Called Justice and let me tell you they're great.

[Chris Gourley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A western in the traditions of Zane Grey and Louis L'Amour

"The old battler Chester Robinson was as lean and hard and gray as seasoned ironwood. His long mustache drooped to either side of his mouth like a silver frown."

Every now and then, I need a good western... where good men and women have "true grit"... a hero in the style of Sam Elliot or Clint Eastwood or Tom Selleck. John Deacon knows his genre and fills it with colorful and vivid descriptions. So much so, my next read is Silent Justice, Book 2.

[Christopher Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

A woman hiding from marauders witnesses a lawman murdered by a group of men and tied to a tree. The bad guys pin his badge directly to his bare chest. He apparently dies, then is struck by lightning and comes back to life, but the badge is melted into his flesh.

After a long period of recovery at the woman's small ranch, the man still has no memory, and begins to refer to himself as simply "Justice" the only word now legible on the badge.

So its a pretty interesting beginning for a sort of Lone Ranger type of character. Over time, Justice determines that he's extremely proficient with a variety of weapons and unarmed combat and skilled in tracking and dealing with criminals. He sets out to defeat the men who killed him, and uncovers a powerful rancher trying to take over the region.

The story is pretty entertaining, in a fantasy western way. The kid is wonderfully good and obedient, the woman incredibly beautiful and in love with our hero, the man is super competent and unfailing. He gets very rich through a variety of means such as bounties and discovery, breaking some unwritten old west rules (you were supposed to send body money found on someone to their next of kin, for example, and he just keeps it without looking for them like its an RPG). Overall its pretty fun to read but not very deep and kind of simple.

[Brett · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a predictable, plain vanilla, feel good type of western. I did, however, still find it entertaining enough that I will most likely read the second in the series to find out what happens.

[Heidi Ennis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Solid western romance

I love this story and will definitely be reading the next one. The hero is strong and manly, the heroine is capable yet still feminine. The story is pretty traditional western and romance, good guy wins, bad guys die, and good guy takes care of his neighbors, community, and even the animals he comes in contact with. The romance is sweet and clean. The violence is the same. Overall Deacon did a great job. Some may say the story is predictable, but honestly I expect and appreciate that when reading romance for sure and westerns as well. But with Justice, there’s a twist on who he is and where he comes from. I love it!

[Jan Mc · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like a good western and an occasional romance, and this one looked good. However, the characters were very cookie-cutter and the dialog was really corny.

The main character was tall, dark, and handsome and knew how to use every weapon, although he couldn't remember his own name. The love interest was a beautiful widow and her son was a good boy. Even the bad guys were archetypes.

A. T. Chandler narrated the audiobook and his deep voice matched most of the characters.

[Pop · Rating 5 out of 5]

Justice Deserved!

And Done. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading reading the next saga in the series. I’m kinda partial to westerns that reveal the truth about the old west. And the author Deacon nailed it I believe.

[Rosie]

This is a shout-out to my stepfather who loved westerns and made me love them too.

This synopsis is giving me Clint Eastwood—the man with no name (it's Joe) vibes—just without the violence, heart-pounding musical score and the bullets flying. I look forward to reading it.

[J.W. Grogan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wasn’t a fan, respectfully. It was very cookie cutter and the writing felt a bit elementary. The protagonist had no depth and was just too picture-perfect. Everything comes far too easily for him and he never seems to face any real struggle, challenge or danger. It wasn’t plot armor it was more like plot invincibility. The story had no twists or turns and was too predictable. One of the reviews promoted in the Amazon description calls the book “gritty,” but to me it read more like a YA novel or even middle school fiction. I’m not sure who the target audience is but it was a miss for me.

[Giuseppe · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 Stars

This book was completely eh.

The story plays out much more like a fantasy that the author wants to be a part of, rather than a well-told story. It's not poorly written, but it isn't exciting or interesting.

Justice is basically the perfect man; he's tough, proficient with every weapon that exists, including hand-to-hand combat, good with women, good with children, good with strangers, quickest gun in the west... you get it. And Nora is what I imagine the author thinks of as the perfect woman; beautiful, tough, loves everything about Justice, and wants him to be his forever immediately.

The story also isn't very interesting or surprising. Justice easily handles any object thrown his way, and I'm being loose with the word "obstacle." And for a western, you think there would be some action, but there's almost none.

Overall, it's just a boring book about a guy doing everything perfectly and easily. Not very interesting.

[Dosha (Bluestocking7) Beard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good western, but a little too short. Lots of good descriptions and high drama. I am looking forward to the next one.

[MikeLikesBooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you like westerns this is pretty good. You have the good guy against the bad guys and there is a pretty girl he needs to protect. I did feel the end was a little rushed.

[Victoria Bylin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I usually romance, both contemporary and historical. I wanted something a little different and this book fit the bill perfectly. There's romance in it, but the emphasis is on the plot and the man called Justice. It's action-packed and full of heart. I couldn't help but picture a young Clint Eastwood as Justice.

[papasteve · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good-fun western, with all the right characters.

[Susan DELLNER · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an entertaining Western about a man so badly beaten the widow Nora wasn't sure she could nurse him back to health. But lightening had restarted his heart after being left for dead and Nora nurse him for weeks before he awakened less his memory.

He continues to help Nora and her neighbors against a cattleman who's trying to scare all the local ranchers off their property.

Will Justice discover his name and his past? Will he return to Nora?
Guess I'll get the next book to see the end of this story.

[Susan Molloy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review is succinct – I greatly enjoyed reading it for its well-thought-out plot, clean language, and well-developed characters.

It was a pleasure to read and to get lost in one of my favorite genres – The Western! John Deacon wrote this well, and A Man Called Justice: A Classic Western Series with Heart is a good story.

🏮Kindle Unlimited version.

[David Mc · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was both a quick read & a fun read, as the author packed in plenty of action within 230-pages. Although I generally don’t read westerns, I’m glad I picked this one up. Aside from a story reminiscent of the classic novel, Shane, the author did a great job of incorporating love, romance, mystery, and a variety of colorful characters trying to survive in New Mexico of 1883. As the story ends with many unanswered questions, I’m looking forward to reading the next three books of the series.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a self-published Western page-turner. It's a pretty good example of the pros and cons of self-publishing.

It's hard to find anyone writing Westerns nowadays. The genre is just not a big seller and hasn't been for decades. But a self-published author with some verve and some marketing ability can cultivate an audience among the few aficionados still hankering for tall, dark strangers, six-gun duels, range wars, and damsels in distress. So I stumbled upon this book and chewed through it quite quickly. It's a fast, and fast-paced read. It's fun and cheesy and a paint-by-numbers smorgasbord of tropes, with very simple writing that hops from character to character and spells out their motives and internal dialogs and narrates their backgrounds, usually just before they get gunned down.

The Man Called Justice is discovered by a pretty widow after some outlaws strung him up and left him hanging from a tree. A bolt of lightning struck him, bringing him back to life and embedding the silver star he was wearing into his chest. Yes, really. "Justice" has no memory of his past, but he is mysteriously uber-competent with all weapons, hand-to-hand combat, and riding, and is driven by an unwavering sense of right and wrong and too-good-to-be-true nobility. Naturally, he falls in love with the hot young thing who rescued him and her six-year-old son, but of course since she is a chaste and Godly woman and he doesn't know if he has a family of his own out there, they cannot consummate their love or even admit it until the end of the book.

The plot is your basic Western formula, a big honcho from Texas is trying to take over all the local ranches with bribes and threats, unleashing bad men on whoever won't sell. Justice guns his way through one opponent after another, collecting booty and bounties like an RPG character, until the final showdown. Bad guys are unambiguously bad, good guys are unwaveringly good, there are no shades of gray here. Everyone who dies either totally deserved it or must be nobly avenged for their dastardly murder. Justice is a killing machine who finds out he might be part of a secret cadre of almost supernaturally capable lawmen known as "Silent Justices," and the Big Bad he fights in this book turns out to be just a smaller boss, with a Bigger Bad to be hunted down in the next book.

A Man Called Justice is basically a Western comic book without pictures. If these are your expectations (and this appeals to you), it won't disappoint. But Larry McMurtry or Cormac McCarthy it ain't.

[Darren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hey there book lovers! It is your old pal, Ninetoes, coming at you with a review of John Deacon’s A Man Called Justice. I have my thinking cap on, and coffee in my system so let’s do this!

I have always been of the frame of mind that 99.9% of your Westerns fall into two categories: John Wayne where there is some violence and minimal bloodshed and the line between good and evil is as sharp as a razor, and Clint Eastwood where the violence abounds, bullets fly and the line between good and evil is hazy.

John Deacon’s A Man Called Justice falls into the John Wayne camp. It starts with a woman and her son at a river and they see four men dragging a man behind them on horseback. The man is strung up on a tree like Christ on the cross, and he is left for dead. Before the men leave, one pins a badge on the man’s chest. After they leave, the woman cuts the man down and she prays for him. A freak bolt of lightning lashes out and hits the badge, bringing the man back to life. She takes him back to her home and nurses him back to health. He has no recollection of his past, none at all. He sees the word “Justice” on his badge and that’s what he takes as his name. Now Justice has a mission. Get the men who killed him, find the missing pieces of his past, and protect the woman and her son.

This book is tagged as a “Western with heart”, and it does have that. The writing is sharp, and the pace is as fast as a bullet. Some of the action is over too fast, and some points get repetitive, but I understand why the repetition is there. This has all the hallmarks of a good Western: A noble hero, a strong female, a ruthless land baron, and evil men who do not care about the pain they inflict. Oh yeah, and an incredible sense of justice and revenge. The shootouts are necessary and not just there for the sake of being there or adding to a word count. There are three more books in the series and I plan to get the rest!

I give this one 4.5 bookmarks out of 5!

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young widow happens to see the execution of an unnamed man, but then miraculously helps him survive. He is suffering from amnesia and knows neither his own name, or his background prior to the lynching. He only discovers that he is good with his hands and a gun, and there are bad guys out there who have tried to kill him.

Sound like the plot of a Louis L'Amour book? John Deacon writes as kind of a modern day Louis L'Amour, but with a deeper investigation into why men are evil and why they do bad things. In this passage the man explains to the widow's son why sometimes a man must kill:

"No son, I did not murder him, I killed him in a fair fight, but I did not murder him."

Boy: "What's the difference?"

Justice: "Well, it's complicated and involves certain legalities but at the heart of the matter it's simply the difference between good and evil. Sometimes a good man must kill to protect himself and others."

In this passage, the widow explains why God saved the man from being lynched:

"God didn't just save you because I asked him to, Justice, he saved you so you could do his work, he brought you back so you can destroy the wicked."

There isn't any grace in this book for the wicked, but there is a lot of justice. In this way it reads kind of like the imprecatory psalms in the Bible, and in this way, Mr. Deacon's book is much deeper than any Louis L'Amour book.

I liked the book very much.

[Rita · Rating 5 out of 5]

justice lives

I really enjoyed this book about a man who is beaten and thought to be dead dragged behind a horse, whipped covered in blood then one of the men took a tin star and stabbed it into his bare chest and they tied up between two trees and we're going to shoot him but laughing said that they didn't want to waste the bullet. a woman and her child were hiding in the brush terrified that they would hear them and saw this poor man being tortured the woman ran up to the man after group of men rode away and struggled to get him down and tried her best to help him, but she knew that he was dead he had no heart beat but as she prayed about loss and unfairness of life because her husband was killed too she begged God too spare this mans life just then lightning struck the sheriff star that the gang had stabbed into his chest, and this man was shocked back to life! The woman couldn't believe what happened and her and her son dragged the man to their house and although she knew nothing about him she couldn't shake the feeling that he was a trustworthy man because the star burned into his chest said justice!

[Kristine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that this might just be my first foray into the Western genre and boy was it a pleasant surprise. First of all, I listened to this almost completely on audio and found that the narrator, A.T. Chandler, was the perfect compliment to this story. He has a very deep and rich voice that help create the full picture of the character of Justice. I don't know why, but hearing the story with his rich voice just made the story all the better.

The story begins with a gang of outlaws taking a man that they have captured and leaving him for dead. They did not realize that there was a woman and her small son hiding not too far from where all of this occurs and through a very unique occurrence, the man is somehow brought back to life.

And so the story begins. The man does not remember anything about his former life - nothing at all. He does not even know his name. He is cared for by this woman - a recent widow - and her small son and eventually recovers. The story takes off from there.

I'm really not sure what it was about the story, but it was so easy to read/listen to and everything just seemed to flow very easily. It is almost impossible NOT to like Justice and Not to admire the strength in the widow, Nora. But, nothing is ever easy, and Justice discovers that he has skills from his past that end up being extremely beneficial in this new life.

I'm hooked. Going to now go find book 2 :)

[Jon Svenson · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the first book of this series we have a lawman torn apart and ultimately killed by four outlaws. We don't know anyone's name. Across the river a widow and her son watch the horror until the lawman is finally gone from this world. She prays and lightning strikes the dead man, bringing him back to life with his badge melted into his skin.

That's just the set up. The book has some clear connections to Louis L'Amour's Hondo, which had a widow and her son in that book. The difference is in how the widow's husband died.

Justice, and the reborn man is now called, vows to kill the four men who killed him. But first he has to recuperate, where he and the widow Nora get to know each other. This is a satisfying read in that the good guys get revenge for what's been done to them, and the bad guys get their comeuppance. It's the old west at it's best.

The editing is sharp, the characters are clear and well drawn except for a few out the outlying characters, and the story keeps moving. I'll admit to not being sure why Justice has to do what he does at the end of the book, but whatever. I'll keep reading anyway.

5/5* Recommended.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Over the course of the last year or so, Westerns have become one of my favorite genres of book to read. While this one wasn't as violent or as gritty as the ones I'm used to reading, it was still rather enjoyable.

A Man Called Justice is a surprisingly wholesome and romantic take on a Western, yes, there's a few gun battles, and it opens with a pretty gruesome scene, but this one is much more about love and morality than it is outlaws and murder. I think, every now and again, we all need a story like this, one that breaks up the depressing and difficult reads we are getting through, one that's purely some good old-fashioned fun.

It's a lightning quick read, paced at a breakneck speed and pretty slim on the page count, meaning that this is a book that can be devoured entirely in one sitting. It's not overly deep either, you won't have to hunt for any hidden meaning here, you can just sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nora Eckert and her son Eli witness the murder of a man with a tin star badge before lightning strikes him back to life. When he awakens in the care of mother and son, he no longer remembers his past or even his name. All he knows is that he needs to find out about his past life and he wants to hunt down all the people who killed him.
The first part of the story seems pretty far-fetched, but it's also pretty cool. I love how both strong and caring Nora and Eli are. She's definitely not a helpless damsel in distress. I love Justice's integrity, honor, honesty, chivalry, and his care for animals. He does seem a little calloused sometimes, but that might be because of the harsh realities of the time. The writing style feels a little more distant than I'd prefer, but it doesn't take away from the good story. I'm so excited about finding realistic, gritty Christian westerns. Looking forward to the rest of the series!

[Penny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would by no means consider myself a read of Westerns; the only one I can previously remember reading, and thoroughly enjoying, was Shane. But I picked this up for a challenge (which due to my poor reading of the prompt it turned out not to fit.) However, it is really good! A man is left for dead by a group of four outlaws, but comes back to life when lightning hits his metal badge on which is inscribed the word, Justice. He remembers nothing but is taken in by the widow who finds him, and her small son, whose ranch is being threatened by a local landowner. This book tells the story of Justice’s search for his killers, as well as finding a way to save the ranch of the woman who saved him. I loved the characters, the easy lines between right and wrong and good and evil and a simpler time when you could take the law into your own hands. No. I’m not a vigilante!

[George Stenger · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick western book that reminded me of the westerns that I read in my youth. However, it was lighter that a Zane Grey or Luke Short book.

The book starts with Justice being "killed" by a group of four men. They leave believing that he is dead and is rescued by a beautiful young widow and her son. His "killers" pinned his badge called Justice to his chest. While the young widow is praying that he would be saved, his badge is struck by lightning, and he revives. A very unique return from the hands of death.

As he slowly recovers, he finds out that someone is trying to buy up all the land in the area. Of course, Justice wants to track down the people that tried to kill him. He also falls in love with the widow and her child.

A decent story but very predictable and the ending leads to the next book in the series.

[Jean Oakes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely Awesome

I intersperse my sci-fi and fantasy with the usual western, and this was on my list to read. It's one of the better westerns I have ever read. I am very glad I finally got around to it! I'll be heading to the second book in the series.

In some ways, it reminds me of that old series, "The Wild, Wild, West," but where the series was a little steampunk, this book is pure western.

I'd rate this book PG. There is the usual western style shoot-'em-up violence and people dying in fires and from gun shot wounds. If there was any language, I don't remember it, but I don't think there was. References to "soiled doves," and rape.

I recommend this book.
(Read with Kindle Unlimited Subscription.)

[Angela Soto · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't normally read westerns. This is actually the first one I have read. Because of that, I have nothing to compare it to; but since I enjoyed it so much, I gave it 5 stars. It is refreshing to read a book that doesn't ramp up my anxiety, although I did find myself zipping through chapters to see what happens next. It's true to the westerns we have watched all our lives...hero saves the good people from the bad people. But this one has a subplot that makes it a bit of a mystery...my favorite genre. Justice is a good man and a gentleman...what a welcome change. I recommend it to anybody willing to relax enough to just enjoy the story.