An epic account of a boy born into a struggle for survival on the harsh and unforgiving American frontier from the greatest Western writer of the century. On the eve of the Civil War, Kirby Jensen is the youngest of three children living on a hardscrabble ranch in Southwestern Missouri. But in 1861, shots are fired in Charleston harbor, and Kirby’s father and brother go to war. Smoke The Beginning follows the Jensen clan during these volatile years, from Civil War battles to border state raids to the kind of frontier justice achieved only by bullets and blood. William W. Johnstone chronicles the early years of Kirby Jensen—soon to be nicknamed Smoke—as he journeys from boyhood innocence into a manhood shaped by violence and a young man’s thirst for justice. Filled with actual historical events and legendary characters, the story of Smoke Jensen’s early years is a powerful, brutal and amazing American saga—the crowning achievement of America’s most popular living Western writer. Praise for the novels of William W. Johnstone “For most fans of the Western genre, there isn’t a bet much surer than a book bearing the name Johnstone.”— True West “[A] rousing, two-fisted saga of the growing American frontier.”— Publishers Weekly on Eyes of Eagles “There’s plenty of gunplay and fast-paced action as this old-time hero proves again that a steady eye and quick reflexes are the keys to survival on the Western frontier.”— Curled Up with a Good Book on Dead Before Sundown

A western hero whose adventures embody the spirit of the American frontier, Smoke Jensen is bestselling author William W. Johnstone's most beloved creation. In his powerful new novel, Johnstone chronicles Smoke's early years. Before he went off in search of his father, long before he became a legend, Kirby Jensen was a young man trying to make a living with the gifts God gave him courage, cunning, and lightening with a gun. Kirby has just earned his first paying job as a Deputy U.S. Marshal for the Colorado Territory and is sent to Las Animas, where a band of ruthless outlaws has been robbing trains, cattle, banks and anything else they can get their hands on. In Las Animas, Kirby finds a sheriff too cowardly to face the outlaw leader Cole Dawson, whose six-gun has left a lot of good men dead. Young Kirby feels no such fear. He takes Dawson down fast. Then the real fight begins.

Set in the early days of the Jensen family saga, this gunblazing adventure follows Smoke and Sally from their first year of marriage to the founding of the legendary Sugarloaf Ranch . . . JOHNSTONE COUNTRY. WHEN SMOKE MET SALLY. For most couples, the marriage vows end with “‘Til death do us part.” But when Smoke Jensen takes Sally Reynolds as his lawfully wedded wife, it’s just the beginning. The tragic deaths of Smoke’s first wife and child weigh heavily on his heart. Thankfully, Sally is there to give him the support he needs when they return to Colorado, where it all happened. She’s ready to embrace her husband’s past—for better or worse—and to welcome his friend Preacher into the family. But when outlaws make an attempt to kidnap a local girl, Sally is forced to use the gun skills she had learned from Smoke to save both of their lives, learning the hard way what it means to be married to a Jensen . . . Live Free. Read Hard.

Johnstone Country. Where Legends Are Born. Before he became known as “The Last Mountain Man,” Smoke Jensen and his bride Sally were hardworking ranchers on the Colorado frontier. This is a story of the early years. When times were hard, tensions were high, and guns were the law... WHEN THE SHOOTING STARTS For Smoke and Sally Jensen, the Sugarloaf Ranch is the American Dream come true. A glorious stretch of untamed land near the Colorado-Kansas border, it’s the perfect place to stake their claim, raise some cattle, and start a new family. But when a man claiming to be an army colonel arrives in Big Rock—with a well-armed militia—the Jensens’ dream becomes a living nightmare. This stranger calls himself Colonel Lamar Talbot. He’s come to warn them about a looming war with the Cheyenne Indians. And only he can save them from a bloody massacre—by launching a counterattack that’s even bloodier... Smoke and Sally aren’t sure they trust him. They suspect the colonel and his men are nothing more than brutal vigilantes with a hidden agenda of their own. But the Cheyenne war parties are a very real threat. The tribe’s charismatic leader, Black Drum, is launching raids on local ranches, farms, and the railroads, too. Every day, the violence gets worse and the war moves closer—until it reaches the Sugarloaf Ranch. That’s when Smoke grabs his guns. That’s when the shooting starts—and the final battle begins...

Legendary national bestselling Western authors William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone return with the latest gun-blazing installment in their newest Smoke Jensen series. JOHNSTONE COUNTRY. WHERE DYING AIN’T MUCH OF A LIVING. Building a ranch takes heart and grit. Smoke and Sally Jensen are more than capable of meeting the challenges of shaping the land, raising the livestock, and establishing their brand. But Smoke wasn’t always an entrepreneur. He’s more apt to settle accounts with a fast draw than a checkbook. And when he learns his old friend Preacher has been ambushed by outlaws, he wastes no time saddling up and hitting the vengeance trail with his fellow mountain men Audie and Nighthawk. Preacher’s attackers have taken over the town of Desolation Creek deep in Montana Territory. Their scurrilous leader, Vernon “Venom” McFadden, has his men harrassing terrified homesteaders and townsfolk to get his hands on nearby property that’s rumored to be rich with gold. Smoke and his helpmates drift into town one by one with a plan to root out Venom’s gang of prairie rats and put the big blast on each and every one.