Book 2

Shooting Iron

by William W. Johnstone and J. A. Johnstone

Published 24 October 2023
From the greatest western writers of the 21st century, the thundering new adventure starring traveling gunslinger John Holt, a lawman-for-hire on a mission to serve justice across the untamed Colorado territories – one bullet at a time.

One of the deadliest, crime-infested towns in Colorado Territory, Devil’s Gulch needed more than a sheriff. They needed a gunslinger. So they pinned a badge on hardcase lawman John Holt. And the rest is history. . . .

When the Devil Escapes
As the town’s new sheriff, John Holt achieved the impossible: He drove the devil out of Devil’s Gulch. Corrupt, cutthroat rancher Joe Mullen—who ruled the land with an iron fist—is finally behind bars, all thanks to Sheriff Holt. But the tables are turned when Mullen manages to overturn his prison wagon and make his escape—with an army of prisoners, outlaws, and lowlifes to do his bidding. . . .

All Hell Breaks Loose.
It doesn’t take long for the streets of Devil’s Gulch to run red with blood. Again. Or for Holt to be marked for death. Again. But this time, the sheriff’s up against more than a hundred men—all of them gunning for him—and his only allies are an all-too-young deputy, an all-too-angry farmer, and a wayward wagon cook. With odds this bad, Holt is sure of only one thing: when you shoot at the devil, it’s best not to miss.

Live Free. Read Hard.



JOHNSTONE COUNTRY. WHERE BLOOD RUNS COLD

John Holt is a traveling gunslinger. He’s been liberating dirty towns west of the Mississippi of murdering outlaw trash ever since the Civil War ended. No questions asked. Payment on demand.

The only way out of this town is in a pinewood box.

Holt’s latest job is in Devil’s Gulch in Colorado Territory. But wiping out bands of bank robbers is just the beginning. More disorder is brewing, and the skittish mayor has handpicked Holt as the new sheriff. Holt is what the town needs: a mercenary with a badge, a loaded Remington, and a deadeye-aim for trouble.

Devil’s Gulch has the vigilance committee. The man behind it—Joe Mullen, the largest rancher and mine owner in the valley—isn’t keen on an outsider like Holt muscling in on a good thing. Mullen already has his hand in all the crime in Devil’s Gulch. He also triggers it. He likes keeping things wild. With the barbaric Bostrom brood under his command, he’s hoping it stays that way.

Holt quickly finds himself on familiar ground: up against cutthroats on the other side of the only law that counts. Holt’s law. Devil’s Gulch is his town now. And he’s itching to clean it till it sparkles.