It only rated three stars due to being a reprint of an earlier publication. I was awaiting the futher adventures ( I've read the entire series) of the Rebels and unfortunately found a re-run under a different cover. Still it was exciting to read again and I still wait, although now somewhat impatiently!

Because it does not occur between the covers. Apparently, Bill changed his mind at the last second and do not have Ben Raines and his Rebels heading to Northern Maine. Instead they make it to New York City...meet up with some resistance fighters who are battling punks and thugs...etc and eventually clear the town. Then the Rebels head to the desert southwest to finish off the gangs headed by Ray Brown...who is a killer of animals...children and the elderly. In the end...justice is served...the way it should be in today's society. Two stars for the wrong synopsis...four for the story...equals three. Will continue to follow the Rebels to the end.

Tinsdale kidnaps Smokes wife after he escaped from jail. A big mistake.

Finally, a Johnstone book that isn't full of dozens of pages
of "filler" from previous titles in the series!
Also, the editing has improved as few (any?) spelling mistakes
were present.
As to the story, it focuses on a band of outlaws trying to
start an Indian war in order to sell guns to them. Smoke Jensen
of course helps stop it, and kills a bunch of outlaws--standard
Mountain Man fare, though the book does not focus as much on Smoke as usual.
If you like the Mountain Man series, I think you will find this enjoyable, especially since you won't have to skip through pages
of material from previous books.

I enjoy reading Mr. Johnstone's work, especially those in the horror genre. While "Wolfsbane" is not the best example of his work, it certainly isn't the worst either. My main complaint is that the ending leaves you waiting for the next installment in a series that never comes. This doesn't keep you from enjoying the book, but it does disappoint you somewhat at the end.

The last two books in this series have made me wonder if Johnstone is actually still writing them. The book is full of inconsistencies, character personalities have changed, key characters have disappeared, and the settings are inconsistent. Not very long ago in this series the population was decimated, the large cities destroyed, and people were struggling for suvival outside the SUSA. In this book world seems to be very near what it was before the great war that started the series. The only sections that are original, in my opinion, are the parts heavily copied from previous books for filler. You can still detect Johnstone's trademark style in his other (non-Ashes) books, but this once great series needs rapid repair or a quick end.

Well from some one who has read 90% of William W. I'm disappointed. Following the series the series Ben is a Nam Vet, D-Day he is mid 40's, he has to be in his late 60's . Same Same Cecil amd Lamar. Dick Clark or what? William W seems to be getting sick of this series,thats cool, it's to bad, good series. I would like to see follow ups on some books like Last of Dog Team, Prey/Hunted, First Mtn Man and some of his other 1-2 book runs. I love his stuff agree with most of his philosiphy and wonder if maybe William W is Ben raines ???? William W. we hard core fans need fresh material.

My husband is a big fan of Mr. Johnstone & I've read most of his books when I run out of my own. *G* Normally, I find them an engrossing read, kinda like eye candy. This book, though, I found a huge "error." On page 248 the scene that follows where they're trying to assinate Ben Raines is the SAME SCENE (except for some name changes) as on page 105 in Crisis in the Ashes. What happened here, Mr. Johnstone???? It's still an fun read & I would recommend it. While it can be a "stand alone" it's much more fun to start off w/the entire series.

This book is good for those of us who need a review of the Ashes series. It has been 13 years since I first started with Out of the Ashes. It was good to have a review of all the enemies/friends and locations, Raines has met/been through. I found it very interesting that Bill Johnstone portrayed himself as the reporter, younger and living outside the SUSA. You get a good feel of what Raines/Johnstone's philosophy is on politics, religion, crime, the environment...etc. Sounds like a Utopian society for me, and one that is unlikely...too good to be true, but that does not mean I have to change my views.

Most chapters have a map of the Rebel's campaigns. I'd have to say that the drawings were pretty pathetic, a kindergartner could do. Wished there was a little more map detail and in depth of each novel.

I wonder if the gov. of Minn. has read this series and what he thinks of it.The book is a review of each book thus far in the series and not quite what I thought it would be.This series is now what to me seems like impossible outside of a world conflagulation,too bad.

My first line basically says it all. Buy it I mean it can't hurt and while it isn't packed full of excitement it does bring on a lot of insight.

This is the worst book I have ever read in my entire life. The writing style is terrible, with the most hackneyed dialoge and plot. I felt like I was watching a bad episode of Walker: Texas Ranger or V.I.P.. There was the cast of elite commandos who act like little kids, (Like the guy who is always hungry). Having a bunch of bikers as the bad guys? They aren't bikers but your normal stereotype associated with them: dirty, dumb, and loud. There is plenty of action, which is the same exact thing over and over. ... It was funny the first time but he did it in every fight scene! Then the blood and gore descriptions from bullets sounded like a bad video game, like eyeballs being the only thing left on a table. No drama, no plot, boring dialoge, et cetera. Save yourself the five dollars on the book and pay to get this man to English 101.

I can only wish that there was a lower rating than one star. This is the most predictable, boring, unbelievable so-called "action" book I have ever seen. The dialogue fails miserably to make up for the lack of plot or character development. Most action books give a little education on weapons or have interesting characters. This book does nothing but bore and cause you to laugh at the same dialogue repeated again and again. Please do not waste your time or money on it.

This is the second in the Code Name series. "Payback" was the first one and I like it better. John Baroone and his secret group of people light up the Southwest with guns, bombs and bullets. They fight outlaw biker gangs and crooked business men and the mob. Sometimes there are two or three against twenty to forty bikers. The two or three always win, go figure. This reminds me of his Mountain Man series which I enjoyed until the books started being filled with flashbacks to previous books. This appears to be the same story line as those books, just in a different setting. I think the earlier Mountain Men books and his Eagle series are much better that the Code series.

I first became acquainted with Mr. Johnstone's wonderful series four years ago when I discovered his first novel in a used book store. I have, over the years, managed to collect a copy of each succeeding novel in this series and until now have spent many a happy hour reading and re-reading the Ashes books. Until now!

For some reason Mr. Johnstone has written a book that seems, to me, to be a feeble effort to keep the series going. Like many of his readers I am more than willing to put up with pages of flash backs to other novels, his political agenda (much of which I agree with) and his latent homophobia, IF the end result is a good read, which this, his latest effort, is not.

I would much rather have waited another year and read another fine, cracking tale from Mr. Johnstone's pen than this drivel.

A major disappointment and I sincerely hope that Mr. Johnstone will return to us the fine novels he writes so well.

i have read all of mr. johnstone ashes series and this is by far his worst book. it was poorly edited and very repeatative of his pervious books. the book i bought was also missing 40 pages and it was new! i will still be a johnstone fan and will continue to purchase his books. Hopefully his next book is alot better.

I was greatly disappointed with this book. It'sthe weakest of his that I've read. It almost seems as if someone else wrote it for him using his previous books as the base material. I've enjoyed all of his books, and I've read most of them, but they are getting stale. Unfortunately, he seems to to be overusing the flashback vehicle in his other series as well. Maybe the new Codename series will give him a fresh outlook.

Read the first two Code books and they were fair, this one is just not good at all. Don't plan on reading any more. This one is about a teenage prostitute who is missing. Her very rich Grandfather hires Barrone to find her. She comes up dead, then the Grandfather hires Barrone to find her killers. There just never was any story, except the making of porn movies. There was no depth of character study. Not enough detail on things that were going on. I really enjoyed the Eagles Series and the EARLY Mountain Man books. I quit reading them because each book had several pages of flashbacks to previous books. Now I will quit reading the Code Series. Appears to me Johnston is after quanity and not quality. I know it will make not difference to him if I read another one or not but it give me some satisfaction.

I felt the author was rushed into publishing this book - it was significantly shorter than his other two Code Name books and the story line was extremly weak.

The situations the Team found themselves in were too predictable and the solution way too easy. The main villian was never used to his full potential - despite his relevance to the storyline he was a secondary character.

It was disappointing to me that the author put more detail into the porn scenes and physical descriptions of the prostitutes than he did the battles and research work done by the Team.

I probably buy the next Code Name book . . . I'll just try to read more than the back cover before I do, though.

The members of the Code Name Team seem to be as lucky as they are foolish. Lots of people get killed in this book, but the bullets always seem to miss the good guys. Neither the sex nor the gunfights in this book are likely to interest normal adults.