Seven Days To Die

The Loner #6

by J.A. Johnstone

Once he was a young, happily married businessman. Then he lost his wife to human madness and that young man was gone, replaced by the Loner, the wandering son of legendary gunfighter Frank Morgan and the current occupant of a cell in Hell Gate prison. The Loner's crime? He looked too much like an outlaw who escaped from this very prison. So the Kid teams up with a fellow inmate with an escape plan, vowing to hunt down a look-alike killer on the loose. But in or out of prison, Frank Morgan's boy knows better than to trust anyone. And with Hell Gate behind him, any day could be his last. So every bullet must be his best.

Genres: Westerns, Fiction

312 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 1, 2010

About the author

J.A. Johnstone learned to write from the master himself, Uncle William W. Johnstone, who began tutoring J.A. at an early age. After-school hours were often spent retyping manuscripts or researching his massive American Western History library as well as the more modern wars and conflicts. J.A. worked hard and learned, later going on to become the co-author of William W. Johnstone’s many bestselling westerns and thrillers. J.A. Johnstone lives on a ranch in Tennessee and more information is at WilliamJohnstone.net

Reviews

[Jeff Tankersley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Conrad Browning, aka Kid Morgan, aka The Loner, is captured by a rough bounty hunter named Haggarty who brings him to the Hell Gate Territorial Prison in New Mexico. Our protagonist lost his wife in the first book of this series and is still haunted by her memory, now expressing his grief by righting wrongs on the western plains. When he tells the bounty hunter and the prison's warden that he isn't this murderous Bledsoe character that they've mistaken him for, they beat him and toss him into prison and he realizes he probably needs to find his own way out.

Morgan starts to piece together who Bledsoe was and why the guards and warden are keeping Morgan alive - they wanted Bledsoe to tell them where he had hidden some stolen cash. The warden is an evil man, so we quickly have two targets for Morgan's vengeance in this episode of the Loner series: the bounty hunter Haggarty and Warden Fletcher.

For a man who supposedly exhibits strong moral scruples, Kid Morgan finds himself convinced to participate in immoral acts a little too easily as the escape and manhunt proceed and have him commit acts of kidnaping, assault, murder, and then he sets up a woman to be used as a lure for some bandits on the trail.

Inconsistencies like that make Morgan harder to root for and I kind of wanted him to get killed a few times. His quest for vengeance takes a back seat to his current need to find Bledsoe and return him to prison so that Morgan doesn't remain a fugitive from justice.

Verdict: A decent western caper with a wrongful imprisonment, jailbreak, and vengeance plot.

Jeff's Rating: 2 / 5 (Okay)
movie rating if made into a movie: R

[Flannery Kneel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mistaken for the murderous bank robbing outlaw, Bloody Ben Bledsoe; The Kid, is ambushed by money hungry bounty hunter Haggarty and dragged to Hell Gate prison!
The Kid pleads with the warden, Jonas Fletcher, trying to convince him that he is Conrad Browning, wealthy business man, and not the prison escapee, Bledsoe. But Fletcher refuses to believe him and tosses him into Hades, the worst place to be in this hell on earth blasted into a mountainside!
With months of planning, Conrad escapes Hell Gate along with another prisoner, Carl Drake, and fate would have it that the warden’s daughter Fletcher becomes part of their nefarious scheme. The Kid must find Bledsoe to clear his name and Drake with his own grudges against the outlaw, leads him to Gehenna, AZ, where Bledsoe had confided in Drake that he would return.
Once there they discover that Bledsoe; under the alias of Matthew Harrison has taken over the town and bleeding it dry! But just when The Kid thinks he’s gotten close enough to the dictator, all hell breaks loose, and everything goes wrong! Will The Kid be able to clear his soiled name and save the town from Bledsoe’s clutches? Prison breaks, owlhoot trail adventures, conspiracies, and surprise appearances leave the reader sitting on the edge of their seats! This epic novel leaves you pressing for more!

[Randy · Rating 5 out of 5]

When the five men grabbed Kid Morgan, they believed him to be an outlaw named Bloody Ben Bledsoe, recently escaped from prison. Unfortunately he did resemble the man and no amount of protest that he wasn't Bledsoe was believed. Even by the warden when he was returned to the prison.

The man wanted to know where his stash of money was hidden. He was starved, beaten with a whip, and the Kid knew he had to escape before he got too weak to do so, find Bledsoe, and clear his name.

He was aided by another prisoner that had meant to break out with Bledsoe, but was double-crossed. As the break was happening, the warden's daughter got in the way and was taken prisoner. The Kid didn't want to, but his partner insisted. After all, he knew where Bledsoe was headed.

The Kid had no choice and had to protect the daughter, while at the same time, taking down Bledsoe.

Unfortunately there were other things going on that the Kid didn't know about.

[Aramis · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a good read. A little dry for my taste, but I enjoyed following Kid Morgan in trying to clear his name because of mistaken identity.

[Rob Smith, Jr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

'The Loner' continues to prove itself the best series of the Johnstone Clan lot. This one has a bit of a different plot than other Johnstone books and is well developed. The writing is fine. Though there seems this book may have multiple ghost writers due some odd subtle repetition I came across a few times.

There's more complexity here than other Johnstone books and could easily have been simplified or botched in the writing, but works overall.

Why this angle of story is absent from the repetitive plots of the main Johnstone series, 'Smoke Jensen', is baffling to me. This series only had a few left before ending. Making me wonder if this book was two well thought out for Johnstone readers.

Bottom line: i recommend this book: 7 out of ten points.

[E. Franmklin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bad Mistake

Kid Morgan had given up his previous life and name. Then, destiny brought him to prison as he was mistaken for another gunslinger. Starting off slowly, the tale gathered speed and intensity. Who to trust? Turnabout and deception walks, or rather speedwaIks, led the reader through gunfights, fistfights, and never forgotten grief, as the Kid suffered physical pain that nearly ended his life.

[Derrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This started off a bit too realistic to how I feel prisons are, so that was a bit much for my enjoyment. The story itself was different and was well done. I enjoyed the story, just would have like a bit less of the opening prison scenes. I could have skipped some of that and been alright, I would have gotten the gist of it.

[Nai Wang · Rating 5 out of 5]

I binge read the series in one month, 12 books. That makes my 2nd western in one year and I loved it. This one takes place during the Wild Wild West and it was such a great adventure that I loved every minute of it. I recommend this to anyone who likes a fun adventure in the West .

[ted tull · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seven Days To Die

This storyline was pretty good. Of course father and son have a great variety of themes and don't repeat stories. I really enjoyed this book and ready to start the next one.

[William Crisp · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good read

Nice variation in the storyline. The ending was a total surprise. A good read if you like western genre books.

[Ted Cartier · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sixth novel in this series. Moved along nicely.

[larry brashear · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Book

A truly enjoyable adventure written by the Master of Western books. It is well written and edited and hods the reader spellbound from start to finish.

[Roh Bawt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rest of this series has been pretty decent but this one was just a little too poorly contrived for me.

[Wil James · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book until we come across a scene where a blind guy wants The Kid to feel his face. I have never been a fan of that stereotype. That’s why the three stars.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Conrad Browning/Kid Morgan returns in this sixth book of the series. This time out, the Kid is mistaken for an outlaw (one Bloody Ben Bledsoe) by an overzealous bounty hunter and taken to Hell Gate prison. There, he is unable to convince the sadistic warden of his innocence, taking a brutal whipping as a result. Linking up with a fellow inmate, the Kid plots an escape to track down and return Bledsoe to Hell Gate, thus clearing his name. The two inmates' plans are changed when the warden's daughter interjects herself in the situation. Adding to the intrigue is a cache of gold that the Kid's fellow inmate, as well as the warden, wants for himself. All in all, another solid entry in the series that always seems to get a little better with each new book.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

A western that of outlaws and right from wrong. Trying to get away from the ending of a life lost...with a wife dead, Kid Morgan finds himself being hauled off by a bounty hunter that thinks he is someone much worse than he is. Landing in jail close to hell, he is whipped and locked up for crimes he did not do.

Breaking out leads to a town where people are controlled but none other than the man he was thought to be, time to make things right. However who is on the right side and who is on the wrong.

Truly enjoyed this western. A taste of life in the old west, were life could be harsh yet in the end life shows right and wrong can still support doing the right thing.