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4.11 AVERAGE
4.11 AVERAGE
This was well done. There was some real menace. The characters, as always, made the story work for me. There was a really sad part near the end. Wonder where that is going to lead.
So the next book is the one where Vic gets an abortion? =/
The ninth Walt Longmire novel finds the Sheriff contemplating his relationships and religion. A mysterious young man has shown up in town and seems to be related to a missing woman. Then an equally strange old man, one who claims to be a 200 year old founder of the Mormon church, also shows up and Walt decides that there is an interconnected mystery to be solved.
As always, the writing is tight and the action flows smoothly from scene to scene. Unfotunately, to me, this particular novel felt like a much longer novel that got crammed into the smallest number of pages possible. The ending doesn't exactly come out of nowhere, but it comes out of an odd left turn in the story and seems to be resolved overly quickly. I would have enjoyed a much longer walkthrough of how everything tied together there at the end; it seemed like some of the characters were just getting interesting when the whole plot kind of folded up.
So, it's a good novel and a good mystery, just not my favorite of the Walt Longmire novels. A must read for fans, of course, but not the book to start with.
As always, the writing is tight and the action flows smoothly from scene to scene. Unfotunately, to me, this particular novel felt like a much longer novel that got crammed into the smallest number of pages possible. The ending doesn't exactly come out of nowhere, but it comes out of an odd left turn in the story and seems to be resolved overly quickly. I would have enjoyed a much longer walkthrough of how everything tied together there at the end; it seemed like some of the characters were just getting interesting when the whole plot kind of folded up.
So, it's a good novel and a good mystery, just not my favorite of the Walt Longmire novels. A must read for fans, of course, but not the book to start with.
The Hook - Craig Johnson’s Walt Longmire Series are a good choice when lighter fare; old friends and a trip out west are needed.
The Line - ”Because it’s my job.“
The Sinker - I got what I expected and that’s mostly what she wrote.
Ranking in the series
Mystery/Plot 3.0
Character development 3.0
Romantic relationship/love life 4.0
Humor/Made me laugh 3.5
Narration by the formidable George Guidall 3.0
Overall enjoyment 3.5
A bit more – The Longmire Television Series is interfering with my bookish vision of Walt and company. Though I enjoy seeing Walt come to life on the screen, I truly like how he is portrayed in my head due to the skillful writing of Craig Johnson. There’s a place for both but if you want the real deal, read the books.
Boy howdy!
The Line - ”Because it’s my job.“
The Sinker - I got what I expected and that’s mostly what she wrote.
Ranking in the series
Mystery/Plot 3.0
Character development 3.0
Romantic relationship/love life 4.0
Humor/Made me laugh 3.5
Narration by the formidable George Guidall 3.0
Overall enjoyment 3.5
A bit more – The Longmire Television Series is interfering with my bookish vision of Walt and company. Though I enjoy seeing Walt come to life on the screen, I truly like how he is portrayed in my head due to the skillful writing of Craig Johnson. There’s a place for both but if you want the real deal, read the books.
Boy howdy!
My favorite Longmire adventures include lots of Henry & Vic. This one has all the normal good stuff plus a heartbreaking ending. What a ride! . . . Walt is a consummate good guy. And his relationship with Vic reminds me of some favorite May December romances—like MacMillan and Wife (yes, I’m old!) with Rock Hudson & Susan St. James as Mac & Sally; Friends with and Tom Selleck & Courteney Cox as Richard & Monica; Rear Window with Jimmy Stewart & Grace Kelly; Charade with Cary Grant & Audrey Hepburn (you get the idea)—and I am here for it! .. . So much so that when I was needing a good book this weekend, I just had to re-read this one . . .
The characters are the main draw for me with this series. I always find it enjoyable catching up with the Absaroka County crew. The plot in this book was not my favorite but I listened to the audio version which was read by George Guidall who makes the hours fly by.
Love Walt and Vic. There was very little of Henry in this book with the focus on Walt and Vic. A lot of loss in this book which isn't wholly unusual, but I really felt it in this book. Definitely a cliff hanger ending!
This is book 9 in the always enjoyable Longmire series. My wife and I started reading them after watching the first season of the tv series based on the books. If you decide to read them, I recommend reading them in order, starting with "The Cold Dish." There are some differences between the books and the tv series, but the tv series is pretty faithful on the whole. There is a video of the author discussing this, see https://www.goodreads.com/videos/19846-from-high-plains-to-hollywood-a-conversation-with-author-craig-johnson
In this book, Walt Longmire, Absaroka County Sheriff, is asked to listen to an older woman who says invisible angels are fixing things up at her house. Walt goes to her house while she is in town with her nephew. He does find a runaway teen who has been living in the pump house. He escapes, but they find him. He has run away from a cult group who are up to something sneaky in the far corner of the county.
As Walt pursues this cult group and while uncovering what they are up to, he encounters some truly wacky people, including one man who believes that he is over 150 years old and another who works on his roof stark naked when he is not building spaceships.
Some quotes--Shakespeare "How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is/To have a thankless child."
Deputy Moretti to Walt --"Are we about to engage in the slowest car chase in cinematic history?"
There are some laugh out loud lines in the banter between Walt, Henry Standing Bear and Deputy Victoria Moretti. If you enjoy reading a mystery series with a little humor, then I strongly recommend this series. I rate this library book a solid 4 out 5 stars.
In this book, Walt Longmire, Absaroka County Sheriff, is asked to listen to an older woman who says invisible angels are fixing things up at her house. Walt goes to her house while she is in town with her nephew. He does find a runaway teen who has been living in the pump house. He escapes, but they find him. He has run away from a cult group who are up to something sneaky in the far corner of the county.
As Walt pursues this cult group and while uncovering what they are up to, he encounters some truly wacky people, including one man who believes that he is over 150 years old and another who works on his roof stark naked when he is not building spaceships.
Some quotes--Shakespeare "How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is/To have a thankless child."
Deputy Moretti to Walt --"Are we about to engage in the slowest car chase in cinematic history?"
There are some laugh out loud lines in the banter between Walt, Henry Standing Bear and Deputy Victoria Moretti. If you enjoy reading a mystery series with a little humor, then I strongly recommend this series. I rate this library book a solid 4 out 5 stars.
While there were a lot of interesting aspects to this addition to the series, there were also a lot of little niggling things that bothered me. There isn't too much I can say without spoiling the story, but here are a few random thoughts (all of which may have mild spoilers, although I will hide any bigger spoilers):
- Walt went around punching people all book, didn't arrest those that were clearly guilty, and the one guy he did sort-of arrest, he let slip from his control multiple times. Walt was definitely carrying the idiot ball this book.
- The relationship between Walt and Vic that had been glacially developed in fits and spurts over the course of multiple books suddenly took a huge leap forward to a cliffhanging revelation.
- Henry Standing Bear, proprietor of the Red Pony Bar, rode along with Walt for most of this book as some sort of volunteer unpaid deputy -- almost taking the role of Dog. I love The Bear's character, and enjoyed spending the extra time with him, but usually he is inserted into the plot more deftly than this, and to greater effect.
- The Powder Junction deputies' plot line(s) were handled awkwardly, although I did enjoy seeing more Double Tough in this book.
- I wish the Mormon splinter cult was explored in greater detail, instead of the left turn that plot-line took. Also, the action movie ending didn't fit the tone of the rest of the series .
- Did the CIA need to be involved in any way in this already convoluted plot? And did the random rancher that showed up in the beginning really need to turn out to be retired CIA to facilitate that load of coincidences?
- On a less serious note, I loved the introduction of Van Ross Lynear, the crazy patriarch of the Lynear family, that was building spaceships in his yard, and was sure this amazing locale would be revisited for the final showdown, but alas, it was not to be..
Now that I look back up at that lengthy list, I realize it could be misconstrued that I disliked this book, but that isn't true. I enjoyed it a good deal, I just have high expectations for this series after so many quality entries, and all in all, I think Johnson may have bitten off a bit more than he could chew here. The numerous characters, and their many intertwining actions over the course this book created a bit of dissonance with the overarching theme of parent/child relationships, which is even found in the title, taken from Shakespeare's [b:King Lear|12938|King Lear|William Shakespeare|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1331563731s/12938.jpg|2342136]:
- Walt went around punching people all book, didn't arrest those that were clearly guilty, and the one guy he did sort-of arrest, he let slip from his control multiple times. Walt was definitely carrying the idiot ball this book.
- The relationship between Walt and Vic that had been glacially developed in fits and spurts over the course of multiple books suddenly took a huge leap forward to a cliffhanging revelation
Spoiler
There was a huge love-fest confessional between the two of them right before the climax, and then boom, Vic went and got gut shot and her pregnancy, which Walt had not known about, was terminated. Of course, this is exactly where this book leaves off with this relationship.- Henry Standing Bear, proprietor of the Red Pony Bar, rode along with Walt for most of this book as some sort of volunteer unpaid deputy -- almost taking the role of Dog. I love The Bear's character, and enjoyed spending the extra time with him, but usually he is inserted into the plot more deftly than this, and to greater effect.
- The Powder Junction deputies' plot line(s) were handled awkwardly, although I did enjoy seeing more Double Tough in this book
Spoiler
And I don't mean that they killed a character, which adds a certain element of gravitas to the series -- even though Frymire was a tertiary character at best -- I mean that they burned Double Tough and had him miraculously survive, only to have Frymire murdered unceremoniously less than a day later. It was an oddly handled bait-and-switch; we got the unearned death of Frymire instead of the earned death of Double Tough. I did like how that plays into Double Tough's macho man nature, though.- I wish the Mormon splinter cult was explored in greater detail, instead of the left turn that plot-line took
Spoiler
They wound up being an oblivious front for an illegal oil drilling operation that was siphoning off the Bakken pipelineSpoiler
Especially them not being able to find the body of the bad guy after he'd been shot so many times. That felt like a cheap sequel set-up for a Die Hard movie.- Did the CIA need to be involved in any way in this already convoluted plot? And did the random rancher that showed up in the beginning really need to turn out to be retired CIA to facilitate that load of coincidences?
- On a less serious note, I loved the introduction of Van Ross Lynear, the crazy patriarch of the Lynear family, that was building spaceships in his yard, and was sure this amazing locale would be revisited for the final showdown, but alas, it was not to be.
Spoiler
Lynear just fell of his roof naked and died, and the plot-line disappeared completely.Now that I look back up at that lengthy list, I realize it could be misconstrued that I disliked this book, but that isn't true. I enjoyed it a good deal, I just have high expectations for this series after so many quality entries, and all in all, I think Johnson may have bitten off a bit more than he could chew here. The numerous characters, and their many intertwining actions over the course this book created a bit of dissonance with the overarching theme of parent/child relationships, which is even found in the title, taken from Shakespeare's [b:King Lear|12938|King Lear|William Shakespeare|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1331563731s/12938.jpg|2342136]:
How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is
To have a thankless child.
Craig Johnson returns to Wyoming with the 9th Walt Longmire mystery, and it's one of his best. The story begins with an elderly woman claiming "angels" are making repairs around her house. When Walt and his undersheriff Vic investigate, they discover a teenage boy has been secretly living in the woman's back shed. The kid runs off, and the hunt is on to find him and discover why he is squatting on the old woman's property. Eventually, Longmire finds the kid, which only leads to more questions as the team starts looking into his parentage. The plot thickens as Walt learns that the kid is connected to survivalist religious fanatics in both Wyoming and the Dakotas, and he has to travel far and wide to figure out what is going on. As Walt gets closer and closer to solving the mystery, the bodies start piling up, including one connected with the Absaroka Sheriff's department.
This is one of Johnson's most engaging novels. The mystery itself is not too tricky -- one is fairly sure who the culprits behind everything are pretty early on. However, watching the team uncover the deeper truth behind why these people are doing things is interesting, and that part kept me guessing.
One reason I really enjoyed this book was that my two favorite supporting characters -- Vic and Henry -- feature prominently in it. They work very closely with Walt throughout, and one or both of them is present on almost every page. And as much as I enjoy each of them working with Walt separately, when all three characters get together, the chemistry is just wonderful. The only thing missing was the new character from last book, Lolo Long, who I would very much like to see again (and I especially would like to see her and Vic team up -- I can see the sparks flying already).
Overall this was a decent mystery but an even better character study. Johnson's strength is clearly characterization, and he does a great job on not only Walt, Henry, and Vic, but all the characters in the story. If you enjoy Longmire, you will like this book.
This is one of Johnson's most engaging novels. The mystery itself is not too tricky -- one is fairly sure who the culprits behind everything are pretty early on. However, watching the team uncover the deeper truth behind why these people are doing things is interesting, and that part kept me guessing.
One reason I really enjoyed this book was that my two favorite supporting characters -- Vic and Henry -- feature prominently in it. They work very closely with Walt throughout, and one or both of them is present on almost every page. And as much as I enjoy each of them working with Walt separately, when all three characters get together, the chemistry is just wonderful. The only thing missing was the new character from last book, Lolo Long, who I would very much like to see again (and I especially would like to see her and Vic team up -- I can see the sparks flying already).
Overall this was a decent mystery but an even better character study. Johnson's strength is clearly characterization, and he does a great job on not only Walt, Henry, and Vic, but all the characters in the story. If you enjoy Longmire, you will like this book.