[7] His 1993 novel Eyes of Eagles received a largely positive review from Publishers Weekly, which read, "Johnstone [...], on rare occasion, molds history to fit his tale.
[8] Talons of Eagles, his first hardcover,[9] was reviewed by Publishers Weekly: "Despite some interesting period lore, the narrative is padded with lengthy historical discussions and further weakened by lackluster prose".
It received a negative review from Publishers Weekly, which called its storytelling "earnest and heartfelt" but noted "this tale about a May-September affair between a small-town Southern girl and a hard-nosed businessman never develops into anything more than an extended romantic cliché".
[13] Butch Cassidy: The Lost Years received a positive review from Publishers Weekly, which wrote, "Johnstone is a masterful storyteller, creating a tale that is fanciful and funny, exciting and surprisingly convincing".
[14] A Big Sky Christmas received a starred review from Library Journal that offered the following verdict: "Johnstone and his nephew [sic] have written an excellent Western with plenty of action and suspense along with great secondary characters and story lines that will appeal to historical fiction readers, too".
[16] A Library Journal review of A Texas Hill Country Christmas read that the novel was a "rollicking Western" that is "full of gunfights, outlaws, and an unforgettable holiday".