Song of Eagles

cannot rate due to not having received book.

As the title says, this is really a great book. I've always loved westerns - whether they be films, old television shows or books. The problem with books is that if I discover a writer I really enjoy, I'll tend to stick with him until I've read everything he's written and then I'm back at square 1 - looking for another great book / writer. Well, in William Johnstone and his Eagle series, I've come up smelling like roses. Song of Eagles is a fantastic book which once again follows the trail of Jamie's son, Falcon MacCallister. In Song of Eagles, Falcon finds himself in Lincoln, New Mexico seeking out an old friend of his father's, famed cattlebaron, John Chisum. However, the timeline is linked to the infamous Lincoln County War and Falcon quickly finds himself smack dab in the middle of the conflict. Fortunately, he has the good sense to align himself with the good guys - John Tunstall, the Regulators and, of course, the most famous participant - William Bonney aka Billy The Kid. I really enjoyed the way that Johnstone integrated Falcon into the conflict - he essentially stuck to the historical transcript - he didn't make up alot of fictitious storyline. And it was very interesting to read about the burgeoning relationship between famed gunfighter Falcon and the teenager he liked so much - Billy The Kid. Unlike many / all of L'Amour's good guys, Falcon reminds me alot of Eastwood's Man With No name in the sense that he's a "good" guy, but he can be "bad" when the situation warrants it. He's not a back shooter, for example, however, if he has no use for somebody who no longer deserves to enjoy oxygen, he'll think nothing of ventilating him with lead. As mentioned, this is a very good read and if the reader, for example, is not too familiar with the events and circumstances of the Lincoln County war, I suspect this book might motivate the reader to learn more about Billy The Kid and the conflict. As for me, it's motivated me to order some more of the Eagle series books I haven't already read. If you like westerns, then you'll love this book and falcon MacCallister.

there's a flaw that johnstone's editor never got the guts to advise the author: when telling a story, the author's major craftsmanship is to allow the reader going back to whenever the author wants to put them into that particular time frame and never has to expose or remind what's gonna happen next. but johnstone in this novel repeatedly did something he should not have done. here's what i have to point out: chapter one, page 7, 'MANY MEN WERE GOING TO DIE WITH THAT SMILE BEING THE LAST THING THEY SAW ON THE EARTH .' you're telling us a story that should be unfolded in sequence and it should not be unveiled beforehands. but here, johnstone told the readers as in his commentary that billy the kid will kill a lot of people in the coming future. an absolutely unnecessary advanced footnote that should be omitted or deleted. again, on page 15, 'the next day the kid introduced himself as billy bonney. THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME HE'D USED THIS ALIAS.' another unnecessary pointless commentary by the author, and again, his editor failed to point it out to suggest an omission. on and on, and again and again, johnstone kept doing this footnote to the readers and pulling them out of a good story that they should find out by themselves along with the storyline. johnstone is a very good western genre writer, all of his stories are quite interesting, but there's always some room for sharpening and improvement. i just happened to notice such 'STOP' SIGNS in this one and wish i could blacken those unnecessary lines like what we used to find in the de-classified documents.

Falcon McCallister will risk his life to defend the Great American West. In the Eagles series you will See William W. Johnstone at his best. The McCalisters are tough, honest, principled devoted men and women. These storys are fast, exciting, and just plain wonderful. The McCalisters will go to the ends of the earth and give you all they have if you need help.