Damnation Valley

THE FRONTIERSMAN

number 4 of 4

By William W. Johnstone with J.A. Johnstone

Pinnacle, July 2018

A Rocky Mountain winter has left Breck reeling from the carnage unleased by bloodthirsty trapper Jud Carnahan – and readying a quest for vengeance as ruthless as his prey. It gets even deadlier when Carnahan lays siege to a trading post on the Yellowstone River. He’s left the owner dead and kidnapped a pretty hostage who can turn a nice profit once he puts her to work.

Following his trail takes Breck clean to Santa Fe, where Carnahan’s set up a brothel bursting with hardened beauties, a saloon for cutthroats and thieves, and a trap for the frontiersman who’s tracked him every bloody step of the way. But over the rough, merciless miles it’s taken Breck to get here, he’s built up a raging fury that’s going to make this unholy town swim in blood.

The winter feud between Breck and Carnahan formed the major storyline of the previous Frontiersman book, The Darkest Winter. Although it’s not essential to read that book before this one it may be in the readers interest to do so. Damnation Valley does contain enough information to fill a new reader in on what happened before so this book can be read as a standalone. 

It takes around half the book before the siege at the trading post is resolved which results in the kidnapping of Ophelia Garwood. It’s also during Breck’s time at the trading post that we are introduced to a variety of characters that will play with the frontiersman’s emotions in different ways. Soon Breck’s hatred for Carnahan will reach new heights and he will stop at nothing to kill this evil man.

The author describes the battle scenes and smaller confrontations extremely well, places the reader right in there amid the action. At times the bloodletting is vicious but not gratuitously so. The atrocities performed by Carnahan will soon have the reader urging Breck on with his mission. Problem is Breck doesn’t have a clue as to where Carnahan is headed but his desire to both save Ophelia and kill his foe keeps him going when the odds are against him.

The book takes on a slightly darker tone once Breck arrives in Santa Fe and it’s here that the author has a brutal twist waiting, something that took me completely by surprise. Before his final bloody clash with Carnahan, Breck will team up with two characters long time readers of the Johnstone books will have met before, Audie and Nighthawk, and they will have important roles to play in the outcome of Breck’s quest for vengeance.  

This story, in fact all four books in this series, are gripping, fast-moving reads. Breckinridge Wallace is likeable as are many of the supporting characters, some of whom appear in more than one book. I particularly like the time period these stories are set in, and it makes a pleasant change from the many other westerns I read that are set in the 1880’s. I can only live in hope that one day further tales about the Frontiersman will appear. 

The Darkest Winter

THE FRONTIERSMAN 

number 3 of 4 to date

By William W. Johnstone with J.A. Johnstone

Pinnacle, August 2017

Exiled from the Smokey Mountains for gunning down a man in self-defence, Breck Wallace tries to make a new home in St. Louis, even tries his hand at romance, but some men are too wild to settle down. Breck is soon back on the trail, where a vicious gang of trappers, after his goods, picks up his scent and begins to dog his every step, until Breck’s only choice is to bed down for the winter with a tribe of friendly Indians. In the frigid, brutal cold of a Rocky Mountain winter, he hopes to find peace . . . but death is not done with Breck Wallace. When Breck’s partner, Morgan, is left for dead, the frontiersman must ride deeper into the mountains than he has ever gone before. Peace be damned. The blood with flow until vengeance is his alone . . . 

Book two in this excellent series ended with Breck Wallace heading for a new life which included getting married. It soon becomes apparent that this happy day never happened and Breck is unwilling to discuss why, even with his best friend Morgan. The reason is eventually explained, told in a heart-rendering flashback sequence. The rest of this story introduces us to some terrific new characters that will cause Breck’s actions to be driven by an all-consuming blood-lust.

The book is packed with violent encounters for Breck, both with rival trappers and Indians. But it’s the trappers who are his main adversaries and this leads to a deadly trap being set that Breck willingly charges into with no regard to his well-being, just that he satisfies his need for revenge.

Strangely, the book’s blurb isn’t correct when it tells of Breck’s reason for vengeance. He had no idea that Morgan has been attacked and is presumed dead. This isn’t revealed to Breck until after the final brutal battle with the trappers. I’m not going to say why Break goes on the rampage as that will spoil one of the main storylines for readers or tell here of Morgan’s fate.

This author really does know how to spin a gripping yarn. The pace of the book is relentless and the majority of the chapters end on cliff-hangers, making it almost impossible to put this book down before finding out what happens next. And that is exactly how one of the story threads ends too, promising of things to come in the next book that guarantees I’ll be reading it very, very soon.