Forty Guns West

First Mountain Man, Book 4

By: William W. Johnstone

Narrated by: J. Rodney Turner

Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

A friendly place...

During a trip back east for a family reunion, Preacher learns that even the civilized Midwest can attract a motherlode of trouble...especially when a gang of local bully boys decides to pick a fight. Now, wealthy landowner Elam Parks lies dead - and there's a $5,000 reward on the head of the man accused: the first mountain man.

...to die

The fortune in blood money has dispatched a small army of bounty hunters after Preacher. Now, back in his once-peaceful homestead in the High Lonesome, as he sights down the barrel of his '33 Hall North breechloader, Preacher is ready for target practice. And he can't think of a more scenic place to pick off the bloodthirsty manhunters, one by one . . .

©1993 William W. Johnstone (P)2019 Tantor

Great Read

Preacher is a man to ride the river with! The twists and turns, sadness and humor, make this book super interesting and yet easy to read and follow!!!

regional differences...mountain solutions

one gets both sides of various cultural issues in Native vs eastern snobs...Preacher understands them both and articulates the defense of the Natives very well. thought provoking book in this series this far.

Super fun read

This is the best Johnstone read I have come across and I have read many many of his works
Preacher really knew how to get after those guys and some of his tactics were absolutely hilarious. I hope to find more jewels like this among his other works

Enjoyed

Well written, well read. Leaves you wanting more. Ready for the next round of Preacher.

Preacher Series is my favorite western

I always enjoy the preacher series. Only thing that I don’t like about the preacher series is the authors nauseating and and continuous attack of Christians.

The Edge

As the title says, the book keeps u coming back for more. Totally engrossing and inspiring

True classic!

I was hooked from the beginning!! Almost listened to it two times in a row but too excited about the next book!! Great western story with awesome narrative!

A moral mountain man confronts evil

Preacher thinks clearly and acts ethically in the face of lies and callous wickedness. His justice is harsh and true and his goodness is straightforward and matter of course. Many more people would benefit from his consummate good sense and moral decisions. Fine, fine performance by the reader.

Entertaining but Stupid

If you want to read how a good guy kills 100 - 150 bad guys in his own back yard of the High Lonesome, then this book is very entertaining.

I say stupid because in the beginning Preacher lets a big bully take 2 free pistol shots at him in a duel. Then Preacher says go home and end this. Preacher's character is never that nice to bad guys and his characteristically always strikes the 1st blow. So the beginning is way out of Preacher's character. I know as I've read all the Mountain Man book series.

It's even more stupid when Preacher's brother gets mad at Preacher for killing a "fine man". When in fact the "fine man" had white slave boys that he beat and tortured.

Anyway, the "fine man" was rich and his family puts out a $5,000 bounty on Preacher. Then about 100 bounty hunters take up the hunt. Even royalty and princes from foreign countries join the hunt just for the fun of it, as they certainly don't need that money. They later up the ante considerably and more bad guys join. Preacher kills them all and saves some of the worst to be tortured by the Indians, which can take days.

One scene is rip-roaring hilarious when Preacher pretends to be a mountain lion and scares 2 bad guys, all the while 2 Indian teenagers watch in secret silence rolling on the ground laughing. The boys even made up a dance to show the whole village of what happened, which is like their TV back in the day.

Another cool scene is when Preacher talks to a wolf pack at very close range. Most Indian tribes like to sit back and watch Preacher kill bad white guys. It's great entertainment for them.

Sad thing about this author is that he has to have raped women and girls in most of these books.

Good Narration

I like J. Rodney Turner's narrations. This story had quite a bit of potential but fell short in the constant flip flopping of Preachers so called anger.