Johnstone, William W

Entry updated 9 January 2023. Tagged: Author.

(1938-2004) US author identified as the author of over 170 novels since his first in 1980, a few of these being as by William Mason; titles after circa 2003 were seemingly written in collaboration; after his death, his name may have been used as a House Name, though more recently the Johnstone series were taken over by J A Johnstone, writing either as in collaboration with Johnstone, or solo. Johnstone was initially best known for Westerns, which he continued to produce; he wrote considerable supernatural Horror in his later career, as well as the Ashes sequence of Survivalist-Fiction military Post-Holocaust sf novels, which began with Out of the Ashes (1983) and terminated thirty-four instalments later with Escape from the Ashes (2003). The premise of the first volume is, perhaps, surprisingly frank: shocked by the imposition of gun controls, and the depredations of Federal government and the unions, a group of patriotic US citizens bring about the nuclear holocaust in the expectation that a better world will, phoenix-style, be born out of the Ashes. If it then proves impossible to establish a Libertarian Utopia in southern America without breaking a few eggs, then – as the remaining volumes of the sequence demonstrate – so be it. Perhaps rather oddly – as Paul Brians notes in Nuclear Holocausts: Atomic War in Fiction, 1895-1984 (1987) – the Utopia created by the main protagonist, General Ben Raines (and his Rebel followers) in the establishing volumes of this sequence constitutes, in fact, a socialism from above, with equality for women, compulsory identity cards, hierarchically controlled worker-ownership of factories, and so forth. The rest of America, now decadently liberal, attempts to destroy the new land; but fails. Later enemies include socialists worldwide, whom the United Nations hires Raines to destroy; the charismatic leader of a fundamentalist Christian sect; and Nazis in Africa. A perfunctory associated series, the Last Rebel sequence, begins with The Last Rebel (2003).

An earlier sequence, the Devil's/Whitfield series beginning with The Devil's Kiss (1980), is supernatural horror. Johnstone's singletons, beginning with Wolfsbane (1982), are also supernatural horror. [JC]

William Wallace Johnstone

born Missouri: 28 October 1938

died Shreveport, Louisiana: 8 February 2004

works

series

Devil's/Whitfield

• The Devil's Kiss (New York: Zebra Books, 1980) [Devil's/Whitfield: pb/]
• The Devil's Heart (New York: Zebra Books, 1983) [Devil's/Whitfield: pb/]
• The Devil's Touch (New York: Zebra Books, 1984) [Devil's/Whitfield: pb/]
• The Devil's Cat (New York: Zebra Books, 1987) [Devil's/Whitfield: pb/]
• The Devil's Laughter (New York: Zebra Books, 1992) [Devil's/Whitfield: pb/]

Ashes

• Out of the Ashes (New York: Zebra Books, 1983) [Ashes: pb/]
• Fire in the Ashes (New York: Zebra Books, 1984) [Ashes: pb/]
• Anarchy in the Ashes (New York: Zebra Books, 1984) [Ashes: pb/]
• Blood in the Ashes (New York: Zebra Books, 1985) [Ashes: pb/]
• Alone in the Ashes (New York: Zebra Books, 1985) [Ashes: pb/]
• Wind in the Ashes (New York: Zebra Books, 1986) [Ashes: pb/]
• Smoke from the Ashes (New York: Zebra Books, 1987) [Ashes: pb/]
• Danger in the Ashes (New York: Zebra Books, 1988) [Ashes: pb/]
• Valor in the Ashes (New York: Zebra Books, 1988) [Ashes: pb/]
• Trapped in the Ashes (New York: Zebra Books, 1989) [Ashes: pb/]
• Death in the Ashes (New York: Zebra Books, 1990) [Ashes: pb/]
• Survival in the Ashes (New York: Zebra Books, 1990) [Ashes: pb/]
• Fury in the Ashes (New York: Zebra Books, 1991) [Ashes: pb/]
• Courage in the Ashes (New York: Zebra Books, 1992) [Ashes: pb/]
• Terror in the Ashes (New York: Zebra Books, 1992) [Ashes: pb/]
• Battle in the Ashes (New York: Zebra Books, 1993) [Ashes: pb/]
• Vengeance in the Ashes (New York: Zebra Books, 1993) [Ashes: pb/]
• Flames from the Ashes (New York: Zebra Books, 1993) [Ashes: pb/]
• Treason in the Ashes (New York: Zebra Books, 1994) [Ashes: pb/]
• D-Day in the Ashes (New York: Zebra Books, 1994) [Ashes: pb/]
• Betrayal in the Ashes (New York: Zebra Books, 1996) [Ashes: pb/]
• Chaos in the Ashes (New York: Zebra Books/Pinnacle, 1996) [Ashes: pb/]
• Slaughter in the Ashes (New York: Zebra Books/Pinnacle, 1997) [Ashes: pb/]
• Judgment in the Ashes (New York: Zebra Books/Pinnacle, 1997) [Ashes: pb/]
• Ambush in the Ashes (New York: Zebra Books/Pinnacle, 1998) [Ashes: pb/]
• From the Ashes America Reborn (New York: Zebra Books/Pinnacle, 1998) [Ashes: pb/]
• Triumph in the Ashes (New York: Pinnacle Books, 1998) [Ashes: pb/]
• Hatred in the Ashes (New York: Pinnacle Books, 1998) [Ashes: pb/]
• Standoff in the Ashes (New York: Pinnacle Books, 1999) [Ashes: pb/]
• Crisis in the Ashes (New York: Pinnacle Books, 2000) [Ashes: pb/]
• Tyranny in the Ashes (New York: Pinnacle Books, 2000) [Ashes: pb/]
• Warriors from the Ashes (New York: Pinnacle Books, 2001) [Ashes: pb/]
• Destiny in the Ashes (New York: Pinnacle Books, 2002) [Ashes: pb/]
• Enemy in the Ashes (New York: Kensington/Pinnacle, 2002) [Ashes: pb/]
• Escape from the Ashes (New York: Kensington/Pinnacle, 2003) [Ashes: pb/]

Rig Warrior

• Rig Warrior (New York: Zebra Books, 1987) [Rig Warrior: pb/]
• Wheels of Death (New York: Zebra Books, 1988) [Rig Warrior: pb/]
• Eighteen-Wheel Avenger (New York: Zebra Books, 1988) [Rig Warrior: pb/]

Last Rebel

• The Last Rebel (New York: Kensington/Pinnacle, 2003) [Ashes: Last Rebel: pb/]
• The Last Rebel: Survivor (New York: Kensington/Pinnacle, 2004) [Ashes: Last Rebel: pb/]

individual titles

• Wolfsbane (New York: Zebra Books, 1982) [pb/]
• The Uninvited (New York: Zebra Books, 1982) [pb/]
• Crying Shame (New York: Zebra Books, 1983) [pb/]
• Nursery (New York: Zebra Books, 1983) [pb/]
• Sweet Dreams (New York: Zebra Books, 1985) [pb/]
• Cat's Cradle (New York: Zebra Books, 1986) [pb/]
• Jack-in-the-Box (New York: Zebra Books, 1986) [pb/]
• Rockinghorse (New York: Zebra Books, 1986) [pb/]
• Baby Grand (New York: Zebra Books, 1987) with Joseph E Keene [pb/David Mann]
• Sandman (New York: Zebra Books, 1988) [pb/Richard Newton]
• Carnival (New York: Zebra Books, 1989) [pb/]
• Cat's Eye (New York: Zebra Books, 1989) [pb/]
• Darkly the Thunder (New York: Zebra Books, 1990) [pb/]
• Watchers in the Woods (New York: Zebra Books, 1991) [pb/]
• Them (New York: Zebra Books, 1992) [pb/Richard Newton]
• Bats (New York: Zebra Books, 1993) [pb/]
• Night Mask (New York: Zebra Books, 1994) [pb/]
• Hunted (New York: Zebra/Pinnacle, 1995) [pb/]
• Prey (New York: Zebra/Pinnacle, 1995) [pb/]
• Breakdown (New York: Zebra/Pinnacle, 1997) [pb/]

links

• Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Picture Gallery

previous versions of this entry

• Internet Archive