This Man Must Die

Buck Trammel #5

by William W. Johnstone, J.A. Johnstone

Former Pinkerton-turned Wyoming Territory Sheriff Buck Trammel takes on the biggest, meanest criminal in Laramie County – and his equally corrupt lawyer – in his fifth action-packed historical western from national bestselling authors William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone…

PRISON BREAK!

In the criminal underworld of Laramie County, Lucien Clay was king. He terrorized the locals, robbed the coffers, and ruled the place with an iron fist. Thankfully he’s behind bars now—along with a load of other lowlife scum—thanks to Laramie’s new sheriff, Buck Trammel. Unfortunately, Buck can only enforce the law while others specialize in working around namely, lawyers. And no lawyer is more crooked or corrupt than the belly-crawling snake Clay hired to get him out. By any means possible…

Their breakout plan is The lawyer will wait until midnight. Then he’ll break in to the county jail to bust his client out. He’ll scale the walls, kill the guards, ambush the deputies, and release the prisoner. There’s just one As soon as Clay is freed, the other convicts want out, too. Which sparks total chaos in the prison, creates a distraction for Clay—and unleashes a bloodsoaked night of murderous mayhem the new sheriff will never forget. If he survives…

Genres: Westerns

338 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2023

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

[Abibliofob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buck Trammel is back in This Man Must Die by William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone. This is another good western with some not so usual characters, although it feels like the writing is on autopilot I still enjoy this series. It covers some things that most westerns do not and I am all for that. Having read westerns for at least forty years I need something new in the stories to keep me interested. This series has that. I must thank Kensington Books Pinnacle and Netgalley for providing me with another advance copy.

[Janalyn, the blind reviewer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bud tremble is the new sheriff but new does not mean green and he isn’t so new that he didn’t have enough time to lock up one of the worst criminals Laramie County has ever seen but when his double dealing liver Lilly attorney goes to break him out of the jail it starts a bloodbath not soon forgotten in one that will test the new sheriff with the trial by fire but who’s going to get burned is the question? Although I enjoyed this man must die by the John stones I found myself growing bored and not being able to immerse myself in the story like I usually do with these books. I love the Johnstone westerns and I don’t know if it was a bad time and I should try and read it again later I DK I did finish the book and I did like bud Trimmel just found it hard to get into the story I wish I had a better reason as to why but I do not I still enjoyed it and finished it just didn’t enjoy it as much as I usually do. I received this book from NetGalley in Kensington Books but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

[Will · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buck Trammel is back as Sheriff of Laramie. Lucien Clay is locked away in prison, but a lawyer from Texas comes to visit him, and schemes on busting him out. Well, that occurs and the plan is to rob a stagecoach of gold and head to parts unknown. Trammel, Hagen, and Hauk go after them and get help from the stagecoach drivers, which becomes a new book series that the Johnstones begin.

Anyhow, this story was ok. Not as good as the other Trammel books, but fair. The fact that Trammel and gang hit the road to capture, kill or be killed made it better.

[Rob Smith, Jr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

After touring through more than 250 Johnstone novels, it's been rare for me to enter a series out of order. In this case, I'd missed the first two and with NetGalley.com offering this for a review, I hit another Johnstone trail. Immediately I was lost. This book was a clear indicator that the two previous were needed to be read to really follow the third.

There's an early shooting, which appears to reveal a bad guy. Apparently not. There's some weird camaraderie of the first shooter, in the opening, with the main character, Buck Trammel, that is not explained at all well. I finished the book as confused as I started. Apparently, this is another trial of a different formula for the Johnstone Clan. I believe this is needed, but I am not well aware that the series business they are in can be left wanting without being more clear as to who is who and why.

The story is more complicated than most Johnstone Clan series and that is a very good direction to take. The plot is strong and goes off in different directions keeping the reader wondering what might happen next.
There are a lot of characters to follow. Unfortunately, too many are alike and have very similar written dialogue. The individuals get confusing as to who goes with what.

In this book the city setting is better written than many, but the outdoors are less so.

Overall, this is one of the better Johnstone Clan books with a more imaginative plot to have come out recently.

Bottom line: I recommend this book. 7 out of 10 points.

[Denice Langley · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is no such thing as a bad Johnstone western. Each series is built around main characters whose belief in the law and family is absolute, even if they've had to be reformed to get there. From Preacher, the original mountain man to the Jensen family to Perly Gates, to.....well, you get the point. Many times, characters from one series will show up in another as supporting hands. The communities are true to the era, clothing, guns, food and troubles are all what you'd find if you looked them up in the history books. No two stories are the same, each character or set of characters is unique and so are their stories. The writing is skillful, readers are pulled into the story and you will laugh and cry right along with the characters. I made the mistake of picking up a Johnstone western my uncle was reading. Ive been hooked ever since. Now I share them with my reading family and will continue as long as new Johnstones are released.
If you've not met Buck Trammel, you're missing a seriously determined man who will stop at nothing while enforcing the law. You'd think the criminals would have learned by now.

[Ash Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fine novel. I didn't realize that this was the 5th book in the series until I was a decent ways into it. I thoroughly enjoyed the style and pacing of this book. There was action at every turn. I was kept guessing with where things would go the entire time. Would recommend for anyone who likes Westerns.

[John Bishop · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful series

All five of the books in this series have been barn burners. The nonstop action and adventure have made each book connected to each other in a full length story with rich and strong characters that kept the pages turning. Great stuff!

[Selway Mulkey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buck and Adam Demonstrate their Resilience Again!

I liked the continual action and character development. Strength of character was fun to read about. I recommend the read!

[Nolan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Prison break. Okay story.

[Nora A · Rating 2 out of 5]

I never realized it was part of a series but it was fine, it could have been really interesting for me but I wasn’t invested at all.

[Beverly Kee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome story!

What a great series! Many series fall apart after a few books, but not this one! Each book is better than the last!

[Truitti · Rating 5 out of 5]

24-17. Woo doggy. How many hits can a body take. Another exciting adventure of Sheriff Buck. I borrowed this e-book from the Sacramento Public Library through the Libby app.