Title: Gold Mine Massacre (The Jensen Brand #4)
Author: William W Johnstone and J. A. Johnstone
Pages: 368
Year: 2021
Publisher: Pinnacle
My rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Gold Mine Massacre is one western tale that is full of action from start to finish! The Jensen family owns the Sugarloaf ranch in Colorado where Smoke, Sally and Denise Jensen live. Denise knows that someday the running of the ranch may fall on her shoulders, while her twin brother Louis is studying law in another state.
In the opening scenes of the book, audiences will be thrilled to see the return of Conrad Browning. Conrad Browning is also known as Kid Morgan, and if folks aren’t familiar with him, check out The Loner series by J. A. Johnstone. More can also be learned about Conrad in The Last Gunfighter series that tells the tale of his father Frank Morgan, also referred to as The Drifter. In Gold Mine Massacre, Conrad arrives in the town of Big Rock to begin mining operations with his partner Axel Strom. Their partnership relies on Axel’s engineering knowledge while Conrad is the financial backer, but he takes an active part in overseeing the various mines they bought.
Most mines in Big Rock were shut down because they were believed to be played out, but Conrad and Axel believe more gold will be unearthed with the newest mining techniques. The one mine that the men won’t be allowed to explore is the one on Sugarloaf, and Smoke isn’t happy about the plans these two men have to locate new gold. Smoke has met Conrad’s father, and he is hopeful that Conrad will see that the technique Axel plans on using will ruin the range and maybe start a war with the ranchers.
When some cowboys begin to fight with the miners and shots are fired, Axel goes out and hires gunmen to protect their interests. The gunmen though have bigger plans than just protecting someone else’s interests. Denise is Smoke’s only daughter, and she can ride and shoot like her father. She isn’t sure she can trust Conrad until they are thrown together in a fight for their lives!
Audiences will certainly enjoy the nonstop action that occurs while the ending leaves some story threads open. Plan to spend some enjoyable hours reading to see how the Jensen family stands with their neighbors to preserve the cattle industry and what happens to the mining operations in the hills surrounding Big Rock. For me, this was one of the best tales that brought Smoke, Sally and Denise Jensen along with Brice Rogers and Conrad Browning vying for Denise Jensen’s affections!
Visit the authors’ website to find other exciting stories: https://williamjohnstonebooks.com
Note: The opinions shared in this review are solely my responsibility. ( )