Carnage of Eagles (edition 2012)

I’m not a Western book reader. I loved Western movies and TV shows growing up. I never heard of William W. Johnstone until receiving Carnage of Eagles. A Google search shows him deceased as of Feb 8, 2004. Carnage of Eagles shows on the front cover William W. Johnstone with J.A. Johnstone. J.A. Johnstone is his nephew who worked with Bill for many years and now also publishes under his own name. This review is really about the writing of J.A. Johnstone. I’m confused how books continue to be published under the name of a deceased writer who can’t contribute to the book. I’m not familiar with any of William W. Johnstone or J. A. Johnstone other Western books. I enjoyed the book. It is a very easy read which I did in five days. There is lots of action involving gun play. The main story line involves a town being terrorized by the Judge and Sheriff. The local newspaper man writes a friend from the Civil War seeking his help. As in all good Westerns, the hero rides in to save the day. ( )

Carnage of Eagles reads like it was written by an 8th grader. Not having read anything by the late William Johnstone before, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and blame the sophomoric prose on J.A. and the ghostwriter.

Being a big fan of Westerns, particularly the great Louis L'amour and Elmer Kelton, I thought this book would be right up my alley. I was wrong. Suffice to say that this is the type of cheap magazine rack pulp that gives the entire genre a bad name. ( )

Having a free evening for a change, I decided to do a little light reading. I had just finished Louis L’Amour’s Kilrone, and thought this book would make a good continuation of the Western theme. Bad mistake.

The scene: a (West?) Texas town called Sorrento, presumably in the late 19th century, with a corrupt sheriff and a hanging-mad judge in charge. After some dialect-ridden conversation, the hero escapes from jail, and as he rides away one of the townsmen describes him as “a folk hero”. Huh?

There follows a scene with four drunken sheriff’s deputies, one of whom shoots an innocent traveling salesman – not in a fight, but through sheer drunken incompetence. Of course the corrupt sheriff does nothing. OK, we get the picture, the sheriff is evil. But just in case we haven’t figured this out, he is also ugly, having lost the eyelid and half the eyebrow over his left eye to a knife, presumably in a fight – although I can’t rule out an incompetent drunken surgeon…

On page 12, one of the townsmen uses the word “facilitates.” Er…

On page 16, we are introduced to an evil albino gunman, who proceeds, six pages later, to kill a young cowboy for no reason other than to demonstrate his evil nature.

On page 17, we have an interesting demonstration of arithmetic: “There were nearly a dozen customers in the saloon; three of them were at the bar, the other three sharing a table.” I looked at this passage three times, sighed, and went on.

On page 26, the hero kills the evil gunman by jerking him through an open second story doorway, allowing him to fall through the banisters and break his neck on the piano below. Everyone cheers.

On page 27, being in the mood for a Western, not a slapstick comedy, I went back to Louis L’Amour.

Rating: one and a half stars (half star added for unintentional humor). ( )

This is the first western I have read in a long time. As the back of the book states the author is the Greatest Western Writer of the 21st Century. So the last western I read was by Zane Grey and I must report that the style has changed. This is a fast paced easy read that does not require a lot of thinking about the plot for the authors lay it right out for you and repeat it several times. This would be a great read for a long flight that is forgotten as soon as the plane lands. It would not be fair to say much more for I have not read any of the other eagle books and do not know if the character is better developed by reading earlier books, but I certainly hope so.
Again for a quick easy read to pass time on a flight this is a good choice. ( )

A fast good read of good versus evil in the wilds of Texas back in the day. Falcon MacCallister is a wealthy man who doesn't need to do the things he does, but he feels compelled to do the right thing and come to the aid of people who are in trouble.
In the town of Sorrento, Texas, there are bad men in charge of the town. The Sheriff and his deputies are nothing more than bullies who collect exorbitant taxes and run roughshod over the townspeople. They don't get in trouble since they work for the town judge. This judge hangs defendants rather than put them in jail since it costs money to keep them in jail. And not all defendants are necessarily guilty, some are just in the way of the judge and sheriff.
Falcon is there to set things right. ( )

Growing up I read Zane Grey and Louis L'Amour. I haven't read a western in years and after reading Carnage of Eagles I know one thing.....where can I get the other 16. This book had me from the first page til the last and I was so disappointed when I was done. Not because the ending was bad, but because I was done. The main character Falcon MacCallister is someone you don't want to mess with and three men in Sorrento, Texas have made that mistake. Even if you don't like westerns I would highly recommend you give this book a try, I guarantee you will want the other 16. I won this from LibraryThing and I am so glad I did. ( )

I dont normally read westerns. But i thought this was a perty good one . i believe if you are really into westerns you will really like this one. ( )

Falcon MacCalister is a wealthy wanderer, with a quick gun hand who cleans up the town of Sorrento, Texas. The town has a currupt judge snd sheriff with deputies that will do whatever they are told. Falcon is appointed U.S. Marshall, and takes care of business. Was an easy read and it kept my interest. ( )

I received this book as a early reviewer and have enjoyed William Johnstones books.They are fast paced and full of action.If you like westerns this one will not dissapoint. ( )

i don't read westerns very often but usually enjoy them when i do.. this wasn't too bad. i know he's written quite a few (just saw this guy in barnes and noble). they did well to give you visual but it just didn't taste dusty to me if you know what i mean. but if you like westerns you'll probably really like this one. i want to feel and smell it and i didn't with this one but it was still a good story that i didn't want to put down towards the end to see what happens. ( )