Synopsis

In this powerful new story, William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone chronicle Smoke Jensen's early years, long before he became a legend...

Kirby—later Smoke—Jensen has just earned his first paying job as a deputy U.S. marshal for the Colorado Territory and is sent to the lawless town of Las Animas. There, he finds a sheriff too cowardly to face the outlaw leader Cole Dawson, whose six-gun has left a lot of good men dead. Young Smoke feels no such fear. He takes Dawson down fast. Then the real fight begins.

It turns out Dawson is only a cog in a crooked plot hatched by someone hiding behind the law. For a young deputy marshal, going up against the powerful and corrupt is almost certainly a fool's mission, but doing nothing is not a choice. When Smoke strikes, he's in all the bloody way, and what follows will become the stuff of legend. Braving bullets, blood, and treachery to face down the most dangerous outlaw in Colorado Territory, Smoke will earn a reputation for justice and the rule of law in a wild, violent frontier.

About William W. Johnstone

William W. Johnstone is the #1 bestselling western writer in America, and the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of hundreds of books, with over fifty million copies sold. Born in southern Missouri, he was raised with strong moral and family values by his minister father, and tutored by his schoolteacher mother. He left school at fifteen to work in a carnival and then as a deputy sheriff before serving in the army. He went on to become known as "the greatest western writer of the twenty-first century."


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jean on January 16, 2022

This is the second book of the Smoke Jensen Series. Jensen is now a deputy U. S. Marshall in the Colorado Territory. The Marshall sends Jensen out on assignment to various parts of the territory to either apprehend a felon or assist a county sheriff. I found the discussion about legal jurisdictional......more

Goodreads review by HornFan2 on December 15, 2016

The recreation of the Smoke Jensen story, that contradicts the way William W. Johnstone wrote the story in earlier books. Just wish that they would have actually used the original storyline, then expanded it, created a volume of short storylines and older fans like myself would like it more. Verse w......more

Goodreads review by Larry on September 25, 2022

Time to get away from the books that I normally read. Nothing like a good shoot ‘em up western to do the job. Johnstone’s books are some of the best in this genre.......more

Goodreads review by Hayes on February 23, 2021

I very much enjoyed this book, yet it does have that set "plot armor" that allows characters to live while still being able to put them in the most dangerous of situations. Considering this is a prequel, I'll cut some slack in that department, but still, Smoke really just goes and attacks 8 bounty h......more

Goodreads review by Corey on November 16, 2023

I was and am a huge Louis L'Amour fan. I don't think these books by Mr. Johnstone are quite at that level but they're damn close. My only problem with the genre in general is that they end up following a very predictable pattern both in plot and writing. Not necessarily a terrible thing as this book......more