Rage of the Mountain Man by William W. Johnstone
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I believe this is the best of the Smoke Jensen series, so far, and one of the best of the few dozen Johnstone Clan books i’ve read.

One thing is for sure – This book was not written by William Johnstone.

It was obvious by the early ’90s Johnstone was using ghost writers. This entry in the Smoke Jensen series is so far off from most all of the Johnstone Clan books before and after Johnstone’s death, that someone else had to have written this. One major detour here is the extensive use of various curse words. This book has as much as any Johnstone book I’ve read. I believe it’s the first in the Smoke Jensen series (I’m reading them in order) that uses even one. Though, the language is peppered throughout.

‘Rage’ is a extremely well plotted tale of another guy wanting to be a land baron. I first thought I was in for another repetitious story. I found out quickly I was wrong. This tale veers from the land baron to Smoke’s 2nd trip in the series to the eastern shore of the US. The writing of Smoke’s encounters at various locations in the northeast US are very well done. The settings of each also very well done. This tale travels from west to east to west to more west. Throughout there is plenty of action and a neat travelogue of America in the early 1900s. All reading accurately to me, though I’m sure better experts could point this and that in errors.

Something else pops up and never specifically pointed out – This book takes place later in Smoke’s life. One reference I picked up was regarding Oscar Wilde in the past tense. Now, this this could be a writer’s mistake, but Wilde died in 1900. There’s also mention of the nearly never mentioned Jensen children being all grown up.

The characters are of a wide variety, all written very well. Tricky with so many of such distinct backgrounds. Love the inclusion of Preacher’s mountain men pals.

Something included that does reflect William Johnstone is the overt conservative political issues woven throughout the entire book in all sorts of ways.

Bottom line: I recommend this book: 9 of 10 points.

View all my reviews

Save