Wind Walker [Mass Market Paperback]

Terry C. Johnston (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 26, 2002

WIND WALKER

The wild and free world of the mountain man is quickly fading into the past. For Titus Bass, leading his family north to winter with the Crow people, the journey is a sad one. He must save an old friend from death and rescue his daughter Magpie from cutthroat traders. He will try to free a wagon train of innocents from its unscrupulous leader, and he will try to come to terms with his long-lost daughter Amanda, bound for a new home in a faraway land Bass himself will never see.

But when he arrives in the land of the Crow, he finds old friends–and old ways–dying out. Determined to live out his final years in peace, Bass comes to realize that on the changing frontier, survival is never a certain thing. Soon he will face his greatest lesson and hardest challenge of all–one that might cost the last of the legendary mountain men his life.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this 30th book (after Lay the Mountains Low), award-winning western novelist Johnston puts the final arrow into his remarkable mountain man hero, the resilient and ever-resourceful Titus Bass. Johnston's beautifully crafted Titus Bass series chronicles more than 30 years of trapping, hunting and Indian fighting in the great Rocky Mountains and on the plains of the early American West. This last installment covers six years (1847- 1853) and sees the scarred, aging, one-eyed mountain man struggling to find peace and sanctuary in a changing world. The fur trade is finished, free mountain men are few and white immigrants are flooding the pristine and untamed wilderness. Bass knows his independent way of life is over, so he takes his Indian family north, hoping to settle with his wife's Crow relatives. Bass's final journey, however, will not be easy. Accompanied by Bass's old saddle pal, Shadrach Sweete, the clan must rescue Bass's Indian daughter from rape-minded Frenchmen, defeat a cowardly gang of wagon-train cutthroats, fight a losing battle against Brigham Young's Mormons and battle blizzards, snakebite and wolf attacks. Titus Bass is a believable, enduring character, a solitary man who lives by his wits, believes in mountain justice and is willing to use rifle or tomahawk to settle a score when he knows right is on his side. This bloody tale of a man who values his family's safety above all else is one of the most evocative and powerful books in the series. Bass fans will be energized by the novel, but sad to see the last of the old mountain man.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

This work brings an end to the eight-book epic adventures of frontier mountain man Titus Bass. In this final installment, Titus and his family rejoin his old friend, Shadrach Sweete, while fleeing the Taos Rebellion in the 1840s. Together, they decide to head to the north, to Crow territory, where Titus' wife has family. Along the way they face dangers from the land, the weather, and, most of all, their fellow man. Perhaps the greatest dangers are from the followers of Brigham Young, who are migrating into the area and determined to clear the lands of unbelievers. Among the perils are joys, too, as Bass witnesses the birth of one daughter and is reunited with another. Johnston's popularity stems from his skill in evoking the feel of the period and the fierce independence of the early explorers. Fans of Titus Bass will be glad that this latest work is out but sorry to see the series end. Eric Robbins
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 656 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (March 26, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 055358149X
• ISBN-13: 978-0553581492
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #334,804 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A tender postscript, March 25, 2001

By 

Richard S. Wheeler - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wind Walker (Hardcover)

This is not a review. Terry C. Johnston died today, March 25, 2001, after weeks in the ICU of St. Vincent's Hospital, Billings. Before the life support systems were turned off a while ago, his wife, Vanette, read the last three pages of Wind Walker to the assembled doctors and nurses and family and friends. Then she played the flute, the very flute on the cover of the book, because in the story, one cannot become a wind walker until one has played it. And since he couldn't, she played it for him. His hero, Titus Bass, had always been Terry's alter ego, and in this last novel of the series, Bass dies at the end. Terry had a premonition of his own death, and only three days after the publication of Wind Walker, Terry was operated on and a tumor removed from his intestines. The nurses and doctors struggled for seven weeks against Terry's failing health. Everyone present wept as Vanette read the last pages of Terry's novel.

I was one of Terry's early editors, and a longtime friend, and my wife and I will miss him greatly.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fitting end to this great series, February 14, 2001

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wind Walker (Hardcover)

The world is dramatically changing from what mountain man Titus Bass first saw when he climbed, fished, hunted and fought against Indians and Whites in the Rocky Mountains. Three decades ago, hardly anyone not native could be found, but not in the late 1840s - early 1850s, Titus knows not only is he old, his fond world is history as settlers head west.

Titus takes his family north to live his final days with the family of his Crow wife, hoping that some vestige of his independent, solitary elbow room life style could be found. However, though it is the waning years for him, the adventures continue as Titus battles to free a daughter, battle Mormons and nature, and help a desperate wagon train containing his greatest enemy (the dreaded settler). Titus wonders whether he will find the peace he seeks amidst the Crow or will their way of life teeter towards extinction also?

The final novel in the Titus Bass saga shows why Terry C. Johnston is a western writer who has transcended the genre. The story line will please historical buffs and relationship fans as the hero struggles to retain his way of life even as the outside world crushes it. This concluding tale works on multiple levels due to the deep characterization of Titus, friends and family, and many secondary players that keep the cast fresh for long time friends and introduces the key ensemble to newcomers so that they are fully understood. This ability is what makes Mr. Johnston a great chronicler of the first half of the nineteenth century America.

Harriet Klausner

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Any More Books in the Pipeline, May 14, 2001

By 

Robert Chambers (Fort Worth, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wind Walker (Hardcover)

I just found out that Mr. Johnston passed away. I am greatly saddened. I have devoured his books for about 10 years now. I've ready everyone. Does he have any more books in the publishing pipeline that will actually be published? I will greatly miss his writing.