Western

Title: Trail of the Mountain Man (The Last Mountain Man #3)
Author: William W Johnstone
Pages: 276
Year: 2013
Publisher: Pinnacle
My rating: 5 out of 5 stars.
Smoke and Sally Jensen have been living away from towns, working on building their Sugarloaf Ranch. For three years Smoke hasn’t worn his gun, but that is about to change. Tilden Franklin wants Smoke’s land and his wife. He has no scruples and has money to get the best shootists to go after Smoke. While Tilden is already rich in money, land, and cattle, it seems his eye is on what others own. So, methodically Tilden starts putting plans into motion to take by any means necessary so long as he can have what he craves.
Tilden names the town he runs Fontana after a woman he once knew. He puts his law in place, so no one will think of challenging his rules. However, Tilden’s boasts have reached the ears of Smoke and other ranchers. Together they may just put up enough of a fight to keep what they own with the hopes that Tilden will leave well enough alone. When Tilden brings in more and more hired guns, Smoke puts together his own army of men who will fight back.
The tale is one of good taking on evil. While some know they may not survive the battles, the war must be won. Smoke and Sally have plans to build a good ranch and family. With the threat of killers coming into town, Smoke decides to make a stand or lose it all. More than that, he doesn’t want to let good people be run roughshod over by a bully, which is what Tilden is and a crazy one too!
I loved seeing some historical names of those long gone come alive again in this work of fiction. I loved how women worked, fought, and loved their husbands and children. These folks had the bark on them to stand up to tyranny and the harshness of the land. Together they start the town of Big Rock in order to have a decent town with a future for themselves and their posterity. Kirby “Smoke” Jensen is a male character with no back-up in him at all. He learned how to live from an old mountain man named Preacher. He loves his wife Sally with all his heart.
I hope you read the book as well as other Mountain Man tales in the series, as there are many! To see a complete list of the series and others, please visit the author’s website at https://williamjohnstonebooks.com
Read hard and live free!
Note: The opinions shared in this review are solely my responsibility. ( )