Best William W. Johnstone Audiobooks

The best William W. Johnstone audiobooks — 5 titles ranked by listening experience across Historical Fiction, averaging 3.63 ABR stars.

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William W. Johnstone is the undisputed king of pulp Western fiction — prolific, unapologetic, and deeply satisfying if you want action-first storytelling stripped of pretension. His work runs on momentum: lean prose, short chapters, and a relentless forward drive that makes his novels feel more like page-turning serials than literary events. The Preacher series, continued with co-author J.A. Johnstone, delivers exactly what the cover promises — frontier violence, rough honor, and mountain men who solve problems with rifles. The Kerrigans and Luke Jensen: Bounty Hunter follow the same template with different flavors of grit. Johnstone doesn't complicate his heroes or second-guess his genre; he celebrates it. Readers who love classic Western pulp — Zane Grey fans, Louis L'Amour devotees looking for more — will find Johnstone an endlessly reliable supplier of exactly that.

William W. Johnstone's highest-rated audiobook in our collection is Frontier America : Preacher and MacCallister 1 (Preacher and MacCallister), narrated by Bradley Foster Smith, Evan Casey, Jacob Yeh, Michael John Casey, Mort Shelby, Nora Achrati, Richard Rohan, Scott McCormick, John Kielty, Robb Moreira, Mike Carnes (3.65 ABR stars). Performed by narrators including Bradley Foster Smith, Evan Casey, Jacob Yeh, Michael John Casey, Mort Shelby, Nora Achrati, Richard Rohan, Scott McCormick, John Kielty, Robb Moreira, Mike Carnes, Chris Stinson, Christopher Graybill, Holly Adams, Matthew Bassett, Michael John Casey, Nazia Chaudhry, Nora Achrati, Terence Aselford, Zeke Alton, Ryan H. Reid, Mike Ciporkin, full cast, Joe Mallon, Michael John Casey, Lolita Horne, Nora Achrati, James Konicek, Kay Eluvian, Kenyatta Rogers, Michael Glenn, Nick DePinto, Belsheber Rusape, Marni Penning, Karen Novack, and more. Rankings here weight the listening experience — narrator performance and Audible ratings factor alongside reader scores.

Where to Start with William W. Johnstone

  1. 1
    Frontier America : Preacher and MacCallister 1 (Preacher and MacCallister) cover

    Frontier America : Preacher and MacCallister 1 (Preacher and MacCallister)

    Preacher & MacCallister • Book 1

    by William W. Johnstone, J.A. Johnstone

    Narrated by Bradley Foster Smith, Evan Casey, Jacob Yeh, Michael John Casey, Mort Shelby, Nora Achrati, Richard Rohan, Scott McCormick, John Kielty, Robb Moreira, Mike Carnes

    ★ 3.65 ABR Score (30 ratings)
    ★ 4 Goodreads (2) ★ 4.68 Audible (28)
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    Mountain man Preacher and Scottish rancher MacCallister unite as father figures caught between Crow tribes and new settlers in this Western crossover. Multiple narrators handle the ensemble cast.

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  2. 2
    The Violent Storm : Will Tanner 7 (Will Tanner, U.S. Deputy Marshall) cover

    The Violent Storm : Will Tanner 7 (Will Tanner, U.S. Deputy Marshall)

    Will Tanner • Book 7

    by J.A. Johnstone, William W. Johnstone

    Narrated by Chris Stinson, Christopher Graybill, Holly Adams, Matthew Bassett, Michael John Casey, Nazia Chaudhry, Nora Achrati, Terence Aselford, Zeke Alton, Ryan H. Reid, Mike Ciporkin

    ★ 3.75 ABR Score (16 ratings)
    ★ 4.88 Audible (16)
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  3. 3
    Firestick cover

    Firestick

    Firestick • Book 1

    by William W. Johnstone

    Narrated by full cast, Joe Mallon, Michael John Casey, Lolita Horne, Nora Achrati, James Konicek, Kay Eluvian, Kenyatta Rogers, Michael Glenn, Nick DePinto, Belsheber Rusape, Marni Penning, Karen Novack

    ★ 3.62 ABR Score (7 ratings)
    ★ 4.14 Audible (7)
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    Mountain man legend Elwood 'Firestick' McQueen trades his rifle for a sheriff's badge in this new western series celebrating America's aging frontiersmen.

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  4. 4
    Red River Vengeance (Dramatized Adaptation): A Perley Gates Western cover

    Red River Vengeance (Dramatized Adaptation): A Perley Gates Western

    Perley Gates Western • Book 5

    by J.A. Johnstone, William W. Johnstone, Full Cast, Peter Stanley, Jonathan Sleep, Nick DePinto, Elizabeth Jernigan, Danny Gavigan, Jacob Yeh, Chris Stinson, Ken Jackson, Rayner Gabriel, Terence Aselford, Nora Achrati

    Narrated by full cast, Peter Stanley, Jonathan Sleep, Nick DePinto, Elizabeth Jernigan, Danny Gavigan, Jacob Yeh, Chris Stinson, Ken Jackson, Rayner Gabriel, Terence Aselford, Nora Achrati

    ★ 3.60 ABR Score (4 ratings)
    ★ 4.75 Audible (4)
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    Full-cast dramatization captures all the gunslinger action as Perley Gates races against apocalyptic outlaws who've taken a hostage after robbing Paris, Texas.

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  5. 5
    The Devil's Crossing cover

    The Devil's Crossing

    Preacher & MacCallister • Book 4

    by William W. Johnstone, J.A. Johnstone, Danny Gavigan, Lamont Ridgell, Bradley Foster Smith, Mort Shelby, Mike Carnes, Rayner Gabriel, Nora Achrati, Kay Eluvian, James Konicek, David Jourdan, Michael Glenn

    Narrated by Mort Shelby, James Konicek, LaMont Ridgell, Mike Carnes, Kay Eluvian, Bradley Foster Smith, Rayner Gabriel, Michael Glenn, David Jourdan, Danny Gavigan, Nora Achrati

    ★ 3.52 ABR Score (5 ratings)
    ★ 3 Goodreads (1) ★ 4.5 Audible (4)
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    Oregon Trail wagon trains face ruthless outlaws in this Western where justice comes from gun barrels. The full cast handles multiple character perspectives across frontier violence.

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How We Rank Audiobooks

Rankings are driven by listener ratings and review counts from Audible and Goodreads. Books with high ratings across a large number of listeners rank higher — a 4.5 with 50,000 ratings says more than a 4.8 with 200.

Unlike most book lists, we weight audiobook-specific factors: narrator performance, production quality, and how well a story translates to audio. A great book with a poor narration isn't a great audiobook.

We don't accept paid placements or prioritize new releases. These rankings reflect what listeners actually enjoy, not what's being promoted.

Rankings update periodically as new ratings come in and new titles are added to the collection.

Read our full ranking methodology →