The Perley Gates Series in Order

About the Perley Gates series

Series Premise

Perley Gates is a lean, unassuming-looking man in his late 20s to early 30s who appears more like a mild-mannered clerk than one of the deadliest gunfighters alive—until he draws. Raised in Texas after his family was murdered by outlaws, Perley learned to shoot at a young age and honed his skills through survival and necessity. He has no ranch, no family ties, and no desire for fame, yet his reputation as one of the fastest and most accurate shooters in the West follows him everywhere he goes. Men constantly challenge him to build their own names; outlaws try to kill him for bounty or revenge; lawmen sometimes mistake him for trouble.

The core premise is episodic and simple: Perley rides into a new town, mining camp, cattle drive, or frontier settlement intending to mind his own business—maybe take a temporary job, buy supplies, or just pass through. Almost immediately, trouble finds him. A bully picks a fight in a saloon, rustlers target a herd he’s driving, a crooked sheriff runs a protection racket, or a gang of killers mistakes him for someone else. Perley responds with calm precision, lightning-fast reflexes, and a dry sense of humor, usually leaving a trail of bodies and a reputation that grows despite his efforts to stay anonymous.

Each novel delivers a self-contained adventure—range wars, stagecoach robberies, cattle drives, gold-rush towns, showdowns in saloons, pursuits across badlands—while advancing Perley’s loose personal arc. He occasionally crosses paths with old acquaintances, helps a decent family or a damsel in distress, and reflects (briefly) on the loneliness of his life and the endless cycle of violence. The books emphasize frontier justice: when the law is absent, corrupt, or too slow, a fast gun and a strong moral code can set things right. Perley is not a traditional hero—he kills when necessary, avoids unnecessary fights when possible, and prefers to ride away from trouble—but his skills and code make him a magnet for conflict.

Main Characters

Perley Gates: The protagonist—a lean, quiet, deceptively mild-looking man in his late 20s to early 30s (aging slowly across the series). Perley is one of the fastest and deadliest gunfighters alive, with a reputation that precedes him. He is calm under pressure, quick-witted, honorable, and prefers to avoid trouble—but trouble always finds him. He has a dry sense of humor, a strong moral code, and a deep reluctance to kill unless forced. Perley is a loner by circumstance, not choice—his past and reputation make attachments difficult.



- Supporting/recurring figures: Perley has no fixed ensemble, but recurring allies appear occasionally:

- Ruben & Sonny: Two young cowboys who ride with him for a time and become almost surrogate younger brothers.

- Sheriff John Henry Moore: A recurring lawman who respects Perley and occasionally calls on him for help.

- Conrad Browning: A wealthy, educated friend from other Johnstone series who occasionally crosses paths with Perley.

Setting

The series is set in the American West during the late 1870s to early 1890s—a transitional period when the open range was giving way to railroads, towns, and encroaching civilization. Stories unfold across a wide swath of frontier territory: Texas cattle country, Colorado mining camps, Wyoming and Montana cattle ranges, New Mexico badlands, Kansas trail towns, and the rugged mountains and plains in between.



Typical settings include:

- Dusty cattle towns with saloons, general stores, and livery stables

- Remote ranches and line camps

- Boomtowns during gold or silver rushes

- Stagecoach trails and river crossings

- Isolated homesteads and small settlements



The landscape is vivid and unforgiving—endless grasslands, snow-capped mountains, scorching deserts, swollen rivers, and dense pine forests. Weather plays a role: blizzards, heat waves, sudden storms, and dust storms add peril and atmosphere. The era is one of change—railroads bring settlers and law, but also greed and conflict; the open range is shrinking, and the gunfighter’s way of life is slowly fading.

Tone & Themes

The tone is hard-edged, fast-moving, and unapologetically heroic—classic pulp Western with a touch of wry humor and moral clarity. Johnstone prose is direct and muscular: short sentences, vivid action, and relentless forward momentum. Gunfights are quick, brutal, and decisive; fistfights are bone-crunching; and justice is delivered with a minimum of hesitation and a maximum of lead.

Violence is frequent and graphic (shootings, knifings, beatings), but it is never glorified for its own sake—Perley kills only when necessary, and the cost (both physical and emotional) is acknowledged. Humor is dry and character-driven: Perley’s deadpan sarcasm, his bemused reactions to being challenged by men who clearly don’t know who he is, and the occasional absurdity of frontier life (drunken cowboys, crooked gamblers, overconfident bounty hunters) provide light relief.

The series is morally straightforward: good men (and Perley) protect the weak, punish the wicked, and live by a personal code of honor. There is no moral relativism—villains are greedy, cruel, or power-hungry and deserve their fate. The tone is ultimately empowering and cathartic: readers get fast-moving adventures, righteous payback, and the satisfaction of seeing a lone man stand up for what’s right in a lawless land.

The Perley Gates series is a classic modern Western saga—William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone deliver a long-running, action-packed tribute to the lone gunfighter in a changing West. Through Perley Gates’ solitary drift across the frontier, the books celebrate skill, honor, and the fight for justice in a lawless land. With vivid landscapes, brutal shootouts, dry humor, and a hero who embodies the classic Western archetype, the series offers addictive, no-nonsense entertainment for fans of traditional Westerns. Perley remains an enduring figure: a quiet man with a fast gun and a steady hand, shaped by loss and violence yet guided by an unbreakable personal code—proving that even in a world growing tamer, a true gunfighter can still make a difference. A satisfying, old-school Western ride from two masters of the genre.