A Hill of Beans by William W. JohnstoneMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
A Hill of Beans...a book I was in the mood for, and was okay, to say the least. Even though it was book three of the Chuckwagon Trail series, this is my second western I've read by Mr. William W. Johnstone, and I have to say, I really enjoyed reading this one. Yes, I gave this book three out of a five stars, but it was because it stared real slow, and then it picked up and it felt like a real western.
This book introduces Dewey "Mac" Mackenzie (well to me it introduces Mac), a man on the run from his past who one night hears a rumbling of a cattle stampede. He had two choices: either get stomped on by the cattle, or help the cattle rustlers get the heard under control. He gets them under control, and joins up with the group called the Rafter B.
At first, they didn't like him-no one warmed up to him. But the more they spend time together, even firing the horrible cook and making Mac the Chuckwagon cook, they liked him so much that they kept him on the trail till they meet trouble-trouble in the form of Van Horne and his men, and of course the Forrests, Belinda and Herbert. The Rafter B outfit moved across the trail, and they have narrowly escaped the Kiowa Tribe (I'm trying to write this in a respectful manner because Mr. William did a good job depicting them), and the action was just so beautiful. Even the scrap between Mac and Roman over Belinda was really good.
The one thing that made me a bit upset was that Mac and Colleen didn't get together. I thought it was okay for him to finally let his guard down and be with her, but it looked like it didn't happen as she fell for Malloy, the new member of the group and also a Texas Ranger. But one thing ticked me off SO MUCH was Belinda betraying them, using her feminine wiles to try and get what she wanted, even having to lie to poor Mac about what was going on until he overheard her and her husband talking and then making love (which was uncomfortable to hear.)
I wish I read the rest of this book series (or the first two books introducing Mac to me) because I really like Mac and I wish he didn't have to go to California and stayed with the Rafter B...but maybe one day it'll happen....one day....
View all my reviews
No comments:
Post a Comment