Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

The First Mountain Man #2

Blood on the Divide

Rate this book
Preacher returns in this classic Western adventure from the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The First Mountain Man.   This second book in William W. Johnstone’s Preacher series finds the legendary mountain man leading a wagon train of settlers into the Rockies—and through dangerous territory. Trapped on the Continental Divide by a blinding snowstorm, Preacher must fend off the gunfire of the wicked Pardee gang, and a band of marauding Utes.  Praise for the novels of William W. Johnstone   “[A] rousing, two-fisted saga of the growing American frontier.”—Publishers Weekly on Eyes of Eagles   “There’s plenty of gunplay and fast-paced action as this old-time hero proves again that a steady eye and quick reflexes are the keys to survival on the Western frontier.”—Curled Up with a Good Book on Dead Before Sundown

324 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 1992

268 people are currently reading
388 people want to read

About the author

William W. Johnstone

1,041 books1,395 followers
William W. Johnstone is the #1 bestselling Western writer in America and the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of hundreds of books, with over 50 million copies sold. Born in southern Missouri, he was raised with strong moral and family values by his minister father, and tutored by his schoolteacher mother. He left school at fifteen to work in a carnival and then as a deputy sheriff before serving in the army. He went on to become known as "the Greatest Western writer of the 21st Century." Visit him online at WilliamJohnstone.net.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
869 (58%)
4 stars
430 (29%)
3 stars
139 (9%)
2 stars
23 (1%)
1 star
21 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
Profile Image for Bill Riggs.
935 reviews14 followers
September 23, 2021
Preacher takes it upon himself to rid the West of the scourge of the Pardee brothers. A gang of siblings terrorizing pilgrims traveling the new Oregon Trail. A great cat and mouse chase through the Western frontier.
Profile Image for Malum.
2,847 reviews170 followers
June 27, 2019
Preacher tracks a gang of rapists and killers through the wilderness (William W. Johnstone sure loved his rapey bad guys). Pretty good mix of humor and action, and a good change of pace from some of Johnstone's other series'.

The main negative here is that it was a bit silly when Preacher became "the first gunslinger". Johnstone knew how to write about one type of western hero I guess, and every one of his characters seem to eventually develop along those lines.
Profile Image for Cindy B. .
3,899 reviews220 followers
February 24, 2021
Love this series and it’s narrator. Both are excellent. Never thought I would like western mystery but, I do.
Narrated extremely well by J. Rodney Turner.
1,249 reviews23 followers
February 22, 2018
THE END OF THE BEGINNING

Preacher as always doing what he does best, and that's cleaning the frontier of unwanted trash. His many trials and some tribulations are always met with dignity. He's respectful of Mother Earth and her children, but those who defile Mother Earth or the two legged innocent who sometimes ask for what they get. He will protect them "PREACHER'S WAY."
When you read about Preacher and Hammer traveling through the Rockies or the lowlands, your drawn in alongside of them, even though he travels alone, you feel and see the countryside as it must have been in those days. We all know the many smells a forest holds, pine, dampness of the earth and many more that we don't have the slightest idea of what they are. A wonderful author who can pull you into this majestic wildness as it must have been centuries ago, is really something..."PREACHER"
1 review
December 23, 2016
Great book. One of the best thing ever been. Keep writing about preacher and Smoke Jensen and his brothers. I have enjoyed all of the series about the west


Iiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiii cookbook iiiiiiiiiii Waikiki aquarium and I don't want to make it clear the last two years ago and it
1 review
August 15, 2024
I liked this book as I like all the William Johnstone books. I usually get the audio books with the multicast. They are very entertaining. I had listened to many Frank Morgan and Smoke Jenson books. They mentioned Preacher often. I think it’s said Preacher gave Smoke his nickname?
Anyway, this was my first Preacher book. I have to say I was a touch disappointed in his character. When he was spoken about in other books, I got the image of a quiet, stone faced antihero. But Preacher was very talkative, frequently bragged about himself, and was quite rude to people when they were trying to be friendly to him.
Maybe it’s just my expectations were not quite met. I will get some more books about him, and see if the character grows on me. And as I said, I enjoyed the book. It was entertaining, so I don’t want to discourage anyone from reading this book
Profile Image for Nancy.
99 reviews3 followers
May 31, 2021
Definitely not for the faint of heart, this tale of an 1830’s mountain man in the unsettled west follows the adventures of Preacher in the final days before settlers moved from back East. The setting, the rough and tumble life, and the values of the time have a special place in my heart.

While some of the events and details are tough to read through the lens of today, I love that I recognize some of the places described.
Profile Image for Patsy.
614 reviews10 followers
July 17, 2021
The second book in William W. Johnson, Preacher series. He is leading a wagon train of settlers over the Great Rocky Mountains into the Great Divide to Oregon. Through dangerous territories with indians, small groups of gun fighters and snow storms and providing safety for the members of the wagon trains, Preacher has his hands full. I love these stories these books they are outstanding and full of adventures.
Profile Image for Gale Costa.
1,271 reviews3 followers
November 14, 2023
Mountain Man Cleans House

I am enjoying this series so far. The infamous, mountain man called preacher, decides he needs to “clean house” by eliminating some of the worst bandits that have been terrorizing the frontier settlers. They raid the wagon trains. They steal their goods, take the women and children and then slaughter them all when they are done with them. Preacher knows who these evil men are, he sets out to end them all.
Profile Image for Lorrie.
451 reviews15 followers
July 11, 2018
The book drags on and on and on. It took me forever to get through this thing, and it felt as if it was twice as long as it actually was. The story itself isn't half bad. The bad guys are a little cookie-cutter though.
Profile Image for Debbi.
1,010 reviews
February 22, 2019
Preacher reluctantly does many good deeds in this adventure like saving "pilgrims" and ridding the countryside of outlaws. He has no qualms about flat out murdering the bad guys. I don't think you would either when you find out what they've done. On to book three....
Profile Image for Preston  Dannelley.
348 reviews11 followers
May 18, 2019
Lives me some Mountain Man stories!

And this was a gooder. This is my second book by Mr. Johnstone and I really like his writing style. Anyone who enjoys historical fiction will enjoy this book.
26 reviews1 follower
February 20, 2021
Another Great read in the Preacher Series

This is another great adventure in the First Mountain Man Series. Once I started it was hard to put it down. I am already looking forward to the next book as the story continues.
285 reviews1 follower
March 30, 2021
Learning of Preacher is a blast. In this one, the legend is basically born, and by the time the book is over Indians are singing songs about him and the president of the united states has requested his services.
10 reviews
September 13, 2021
A fine frontier story

Preacher was the Superman of his time. He was there to protect the innocent and deal out justice to the scoundrels. This story moved along quickly and was an excellent read. I loved Preacher.
3,612 reviews16 followers
December 20, 2021
Loved this story!

I can hardly put one of this author's books down, they are incredibly good! Loved how Preacher tracked down and destroyed the bad guys! Can't wait to read the one about the wagon train of women!
16 reviews
May 16, 2022
Sad about my first review

The first book I read from this author was free of trash language and I gave it five stars. This one gets two stars mainly for the foul language. Maybe his language improves with each new book. You
Profile Image for See.
634 reviews4 followers
June 1, 2022
A good second book in this series

Preacher takes on outlaw gangs that never gets less than twenty-five men even though he keeps killing them. In the end he doesn't have to kill them all, but peaceful times don't come easy. There is a good hook for book number three in the end.
731 reviews2 followers
December 27, 2017
A very good and entertaining novel. I enjoyed reading this novel and recommend it to everyone.
375 reviews6 followers
March 5, 2019
A hard land with hard men.

The book is fast action with interesting characters and plot. If you enjoy stories about the Mountain Men then I highly recommend this series.
931 reviews2 followers
September 19, 2019
Fun Western if you like blood, but the title tells you that.
Profile Image for William.
1,045 reviews51 followers
November 28, 2020
The vocabulary and wordiness relaxes me as a reader. Then "BAM" the horror of reality of this place in history.
Profile Image for Michael Mcfarren.
402 reviews4 followers
February 28, 2021
Unbelievable action

Unbelievable action with completely outnumbered odds. Yet Preacher works nature a man inhumanity in his favor. I must start the next book yet tonight.
624 reviews
July 18, 2021
3.5 A bit repetitive of prior books but good western fable
Profile Image for Gentry.
50 reviews1 follower
January 29, 2022
Mountain men like preacher make me want to be a better man.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.