Trail of Blood

THE LONER 

number 8 of 15

By J.A. Johnstone

Pinnacle, February 2011 

The son of legendary gunman Frank Morgan, Conrad Browning goes by the name of the Loner – and forged a growing reputation of his own. But in the midst of a fight for his life, the Loner discovered that he too was a father: of twins he’d never met. Now, the Loner heads back east to pierce a mystery guarded by murderous criminals for hire. Why is his ex-fiancée hiding his children from him? And why is this secret worth killing to keep? The answers lead the Loner back to a small Kansas town and a tale of cruelty, greed and power – the kind of story his father always knew how to end: with courage and a gun… 

This story closely follows the previous entry in this excellent series. The ending of book 7 introduced the possibility of The Loner being a father and Conrad’s desire to discover whether that is true forms the main thread of this tale. 

After an exciting, bloody train robbery attempt, the story shifts to Boston as Conrad tries to hunt for truths that his children really do exist. Even in the domain of millionaires’ death lurks, and there are attempts on his life that lead to more questions. Eventually Conrad becomes the Loner again and heads West, following every lead he can. Each town he finds himself in seems to have its own problems and The Loner finds himself caught up in them, fighting for his and others lives before moving on.

Well read western fans will recognize one of the lawmen the Loner finds himself fighting alongside in Abilene, and will know another who only gets mentioned by name. This was a neat inclusion for me as I’ve long been a fan of the series these two characters star in and I’ve always liked it when different series characters appear in another series. 

As the body count mounts and trail goes from hot to cold and back again, you’ll soon be left wondering if the Loner will ever find out the truth. Maybe the answers lie in an orphanage near the town of Powderhorn but a lot of blood will have to be spilled before the Loner can find out.

This is another terrific entry in The Loner series. It’s a story that is episodic in a way, all the separate troubles being linked by the Loner’s search to discover if his children exist. The tale is peopled with many memorable characters and descriptions put me right there in the midst of the action. Like the previous book, this one finishes in such a way that I’m going to have to read the next one very soon. 

The opening blurb mentions the Loner’s father, Frank Morgan. For those who don’t know Morgan starred in his own twenty-three book series called The Last Gunfighter put out under the author name of William W. Johnstone and the latter editions also carry the name J.A. Johnstone. Both series ended in 2012 but in 2018 a new Johnstone series was launched called The Morgans that features both father and son.