Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Behind the Iron | 2018 | J.A. Johnstone | Buy |
| 2 | Yuma Prison Crashout | 2018 | J.A. Johnstone | Buy |
| 3 | A Knife in the Heart | 2020 | J.A. Johnstone | Buy |
| 4 | Dead Time | 2020 | J.A. Johnstone | Buy |
The Hank Fallon series puts a prison-noir spin on the traditional Western. Fallon is a lawman who ended up on the wrong side of a cell door after being framed. Rather than rotting away, he strikes a deal to go undercover inside territorial prisons, investigating criminal operations that law enforcement cannot reach from the outside. The first book, Behind the Iron, sets up the premise in 2018, and the series ran for four books through 2020.
Each book drops Fallon into a different prison with a different assignment. Yuma Prison Crashout sends him to one of the most notorious lockups in the West, while A Knife in the Heart raises the stakes even further. The setup gives Johnstone a fresh angle on the Western genre. Fallon has to survive not just the usual frontier dangers but prison gangs, corrupt guards, and the constant risk of his cover being blown. It is a clever premise that keeps each installment feeling distinct.