Action & Adventure
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Settling His Hash (A Chuckwagon Trail Western)
Legendary national bestselling Western authors William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone return with a new installment in the rip-roaring, gun-blazing Chuckwagon Trail series featuring Dewey "Mac" Mackenzie. A chuckwagon cook who's also deadly with a pair of six-shooters, he's a man who has no qualms filling men's bellies with food-or lead. Finally cleared of a crime he didn't commit, he's able to enjoy the fruits of his labor on the trail without looking over his shoulder. But even his best served grub can be spoiled by those with evil appetites…
After traversing California from one end to the other, and finding nothing much to his liking, Mac Mackenzie is heeding his heart's call to return to Texas. Lucky for him, a group of cowboys heading for the Lone Star state need someone who knows their way around a chuckwagon. Their previous cook's temper boiled over during a saloon brawl and ended up in jail. With no love for the cook-or his food-the cowboys just want to head home peaceably, share some quality meals with good company, and give their boss the small fortune they're carrying from the herd they sold.
Otis Bradley knows he's no gourmet, but that's no excuse for his fellow cattlemen to leave him rotting behind bars. He still earned his share of the payroll for this time on the trail-and after befriending outlaw Stack Ketchum, Otis has a gang of gunfighters ready to dish out some revenge in exchange for the loot. But Otis and Ketchum's badmen haven't reckoned with the likes of Mac, a man who will settle their hash-raw and bloody . . .
JOHNSTONE COUNTRY. WHERE MEN STAKE THEIR CLAIMS.
After traversing California from one end to the other, and finding nothing much to his liking, Mac Mackenzie is heeding his heart's call to return to Texas. Lucky for him, a group of cowboys heading for the Lone Star state need someone who knows their way around a chuckwagon. Their previous cook's temper boiled over during a saloon brawl and ended up in jail. With no love for the cook-or his food-the cowboys just want to head home peaceably, share some quality meals with good company, and give their boss the small fortune they're carrying from the herd they sold.
Otis Bradley knows he's no gourmet, but that's no excuse for his fellow cattlemen to leave him rotting behind bars. He still earned his share of the payroll for this time on the trail-and after befriending outlaw Stack Ketchum, Otis has a gang of gunfighters ready to dish out some revenge in exchange for the loot. But Otis and Ketchum's badmen haven't reckoned with the likes of Mac, a man who will settle their hash-raw and bloody . . .
JOHNSTONE COUNTRY. WHERE MEN STAKE THEIR CLAIMS.
Readers Top Reviews
Completely Satisfied
One of the newer series by the excellent Johnstones. The Chuckwagon series revolves around Mac, a trail cook who is also handy with a gun. As with their other excellent series, there's lots of action, adventure, humor and great western writing to keep even the most dedicated Louis L'Amour fan happy. Pick a series and jump in. You'll soon be a fan too.
Traveler46
While the title might not be the most connected, “Settling His Hash” is a good story with good characters. They start with Dewey “Mac” Mackenzie who is an unusual character. He is in California after wanting to be there but being disappointed in the state. He meets up with a group of Texas wranglers who have delivered a bunch of longhorns and are on the way back to Texas with over $20-thousand. While wetting their whistles in a local saloon one of them their supposed camp cook gets into a brawl and is arrested. The Texas boys decide to leave hi. And head on back east. This displeases Otis and he is out for revenge especially since he meets a real outlaw in jail who has a plan. Enter Mac who is looking to go east and the group needing a line cook a job, where Mac excels. A few other intervening events like cattle rustling, attempted bank robbery, a pair of lovely twins -Sara and Tara and you have the makings of a rip snorting story! A good read that takes the good guys group into Mexico after rustlers and after a run in with the corrupt Rurales as well as Mexican rustlers, they finally get back to the Box H in Arizona. But there are costs to be paid and the ending is not all great. A worthwhile read and I highly recommend it. I enjoyed the not traditional Mac as a good cook, shooter, and cowboy.
Jacqui Murray
In Settling His Hash (Pinnacle Books 2022), fifth in the Chuckwagon Trail Westerns, Dewey 'Mac' Mackenzie has finished a job that took him to California where he’d always thought he wanted to settle. But after spending time there, he realizes it isn’t his dream home after all. Having finally been cleared of a murder he didn't commit, he heads back to Texas, unsure what he'll do next. He loves cooking for large groups so maybe he'll run the chuck wagon for a ranch. He's always been happy doing that. As he and his faithful horse make their way back to Texas, he stops to help a ranch crew who oddly is in need of a cook after theirs was fired for a lot of reasons, the least of which was poor cooking. Mac signs on to help them get home and is such a success, he entertains the idea of joining their brand when they reach their Texas home. As often happens to Mac, trouble finds him. In this case, it's the ambush of a small rancher and his two daughters. The entire crew decides to help get them back on their feet after a series of setbacks. One of them is an ongoing rustling problem involving not just this rancher but a lot of the locals. Mac ends up in the middle of tracking down the thieves and finds he is falling for one of the daughters. Yes. That is a lot of action, but if you're familiar with the Mac Mackenzie series, you’ll expect no less than non-stop action, clever solutions, and Mac saving the day when it seems impossible. Highly recommended for Western genre fans.
Kindle Abibliofob
I have read all of this series and enjoyed reading them, but this one seemed to be missing something. I am not sure what it is exactly, but it doesn't seem to have the same effect on me. Stating that I am going to read the first couple of books to see if I can discover it.
