(The Dunwich Hoarder - Terry L. Estep - Image generated with the aid of ChatGPT)

“Preacher’s Hell,” and “The Last Ride of the Dirty Creek Gang,” by William W. Johnstone & J.A. Johnstone. Publication date: Feb. 24, 2026.

William W. Johnstone hasn’t let being dead stop him from cranking out books.

The man was a juggernaut of the mass market paperback scene in the 1980s and ’90s, publishing horror, westerns and men’s adventure novels at a rapid clip to fill supermarket spinner racks. None of them were particularly great, but they didn’t have to be. He was selling entertainment to get you through your lunch break or a rainy afternoon.

His brand was so firmly established that a series of ghost writers — under the direction of J.A. Johnstone — have carried on since his death. This month we have two Johnstone Westerns coming out on the same day.

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The mountain man Preacher is like Daniel Boone crossed with a Terminator. “Preacher’s Hell,” the 32nd book in the series, finds him — along with the hulking Crow warrior Nighthawk and his diminutive companion Audi — forced to take care of a pair of twin infants and find out where they came from.

Pursuing them are a band of outlaws led by Mack Ozark, an evil villain who wants the babies back at any cost. Preacher and Ozark are evenly matched, and it’s entertaining to watch them spark against each other as each tries to gain the advantage.

Ozark sneered again. “You’re awfully sure of yourself, aren’t you?”

“Don’t see no reason not to be. I’m still here, and a whole heap o’ fellas who’ve tried to kill me ain’t.”

This is a fun adventure with plenty of action. Preacher and his buddies offer pure escapism, living on the ever-shrinking frontier as civilization and its rules draw closer and closer.

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Less effective is “The Last Ride of the Dirty Creek Gang.”

A year after a bank robbery gone bad, Clay Carson is keeping his head down by working as a cook on a cotton farm.

He’s building a new life for himself when he’s contacted by his gang’s former leader, Lemuel Jones, with two startling revelations. The first is that Lem is dying of consumption (aka tuberculosis). The second is that the gold from the bungled robbery isn’t lost, but hidden. Lem asks Carson to gather the former members of the Dirty Creek Gang for one final ride to retrieve the gold and split it evenly.

The novel drags during the recruiting of the former members, which feels like a drawn out series of side quests in a role-playing game. They’re not exactly boring, but feel like they’re getting in the way of the main plot.

Considering the amount of double crossing and backbiting between the members of the gang, it’s a miracle they ever managed to work together in the first place. They’re often too busy attacking each other to focus on evading angry sheriffs and bounty hunters on their trail.

The pacing issues stop it from achieving the compulsive “just one more chapter” experience of “Preacher’s Hell.” Still, it has a decent amount of heart for a book about outlaws.

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Here are some short takes on recent reads.

“First Lord’s Fury,” by Jim Butcher. The sixth and final novel of the Codex Alera series finds Tavi and his empire mounting a final assault to save the realm from the insect-like Vord queen. It’s a satisfying cap to a series created on a dare to combine Roman legions with Pokemon.

“The Pusher,” by Ed McBain. The third novel in the long-running 87th Precinct series of police procedurals finds Steve Carella trying to solve a homicide staged to look like a heroin overdose. Good stuff.

“A Simple Plan,” by Scott Smith. Three men find a crashed airplane with a bag containing millions of dollars and decide to keep it. It’s a tense thriller with awful characters who find ways to justify every new atrocity in the name of greed. It’s the sort of book where you hope everyone gets exactly what they deserve.

“Shogun,” by James Clavell. It’s a sweeping historical novel set in 1600 feudal Japan. English pilot (navigator) John Blackthorne finds himself washed ashore in Japan and must try to fit in and navigate the various factions struggling for power. It’s an epic saga that served as source material for who miniseries adaptations. It was a great story, and the book is thick enough to be used as a weapon if you need to fight off a mugger.

Terry L. Estep can be reached at testep@newsandsentinel.com