JOHNSTONE, William W.

(1938-)

   US writer who has written at least 85 novels since his first in 1980, being best known for Westerns; he has also written some horror. His Ashes sequence of SURVIVALIST-FICTION military post- HOLOCAUST sf novels comprises Out of the Ashes (1983), Fire in the Ashes (1984), Anarchy in the Ashes (1984), Blood in the Ashes (1985), Alone in the Ashes (1985), Wind in the Ashes (1986), Smoke from the Ashes (1987), Danger in the Ashes(1988), Valor in the Ashes (1988), Trapped in the Ashes (1989), Death in the Ashes (1990), Survival in the Ashes (1990),Fury in the Ashes (1991), Courage in the Ashes (1992), Terror in the Ashes (1992), Battle in theAshes (1993), Vengeance in the Ashes (1993), Flames from the Ashes (1993), Treason in the Ashes (1994) and D-Day in the Ashes (1994). The premise of the first volume is, perhaps, surprisingly frank: shocked by the imposition of gun control, a group of patriotric US citizens bring about the nuclear holocaust in the expectation that a better world will, phoenix-style, be born. The remaining volumes of the sequence attempt to demonstrate how right they were.

   JC

   Other works: The Devil series, comprising The Devil's Kiss (1980), The Devil's Heart (1983), The Devil's Touch (1984) and The Devil's Cat (1987); Wolfsbane (1982); The Uninvited(1982); Crying Shame (1983); Nursery (1983); Sweet Dreams (1985); Cat's Cradle (1986); Jack-in-the-Box (1986); Rockinghorse (1986); Baby Grand (1987) with Joseph E. Keene; Sandman (1988); Carnival (1989); Cat's Eye (1989); Darkly the Thunder (1990); Watchers in the Woods (1991); The Devil's Laughter (1992); Them (1992); Bats (1993); Night Mask (1994).