Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Blood Bond/William W. Johnstone


Originally published by Zebra Books in 1989 and recently reprinted by Pinnacle Books (both imprints of Kensington Books), this is the first novel in a series about blood brothers Matt Bodine and Sam Two Wolves. Set against a well-drawn background of the Indian Wars in Wyoming and Montana during 1875 and '76, it makes good use of Johnstone's trademark fast pace and exciting action scenes. It also has an epic feel to it as the fictional characters interact with several real ones, including General George Armstrong Custer. Not surprisingly, the Battle of the Little Big Horn plays a major part in the novel, and as far as I can tell, Johnstone presents the action accurately. Those who know more about that particular battle than I do might find a few things to disagree with. That's true about almost any area of Western history, though.

I don't know if the other books in the series revolve around historical incidents. I intend to read them and find out. I generally enjoy Johnstone's books, and BLOOD BOND is the best Western of his that I've read so far.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Have you ever read his horror novels or the books in the "Ashes" series?

James Reasoner said...

I've read several of Johnstone's horror novels and enjoyed them all. Haven't tried any of the Ashes novels yet, although I probably will sooner or later. The best book of his that I've read is his first one, the supposedly autobiographical LAST OF THE DOG TEAM.

Dys7topia said...

This really sounds up my alley. I'll be ordering it soonest!

Kealan