Scan barcode
A review by ericbuscemi
Hell Is Empty by Craig Johnson
5.0
The author of this series, Craig Johnson, is not content to churn out paint-by-number mysteries. With each book, he pushes the boundaries of his craft -- integrating flashbacks, different settings, non-linear storytelling, playing with tone, etc. -- but what he does in this book may be his crowning achievement.
There is actually no mystery in this Walt Longmire mystery -- it is made clear at the beginning that Raynaud Shade, the prisoner that Walt is transporting, is guilty of killing a child. This book's journey is simply Walt's hunt to find the escaped convict.
The reader, in the absence of a mystery, is treated to a complex and moving character study as said character, protagonist detective Walt Longmire, is put through extensive and numerous trials as he literally climbs more than 13,000 feet to Cloud Peak after Shade in a blizzard, while metaphorically traversing the nine circles of hell accompanied only by -- naturally -- a battered paperback copy of Dante's [b:Inferno|15645|Inferno (The Divine Comedy, #1)|Dante Alighieri|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1333579470s/15645.jpg|2377563], Indian recluse Virgil White Buffalo, and borrowed supplies from big game hunter Omar.
The skill of the writing left me feeling as cold, alone, confused, and exhausted as Walt, but the intensity also left me needing to know what happened next, and how would this resolve when, inevitably, Walt and Shade met at the climax. And despite my earlier insistence that there was not a mystery, there is the very intriguing, if ethereal, mystery of what exactly happened to Walt during his journey up the mountain.
Note to fans of the Longmire television show: The first episode of season two, Unquiet Mind, is based on this book, with the set-up of that episode being almost identical to the first third of this book, as well as many thematic elements later. If possible, I'd try to read this first, but I didn't do that and I still enjoyed this book immensely.
There is actually no mystery in this Walt Longmire mystery -- it is made clear at the beginning that Raynaud Shade, the prisoner that Walt is transporting, is guilty of killing a child. This book's journey is simply Walt's hunt to find the escaped convict.
The reader, in the absence of a mystery, is treated to a complex and moving character study as said character, protagonist detective Walt Longmire, is put through extensive and numerous trials as he literally climbs more than 13,000 feet to Cloud Peak after Shade in a blizzard, while metaphorically traversing the nine circles of hell accompanied only by -- naturally -- a battered paperback copy of Dante's [b:Inferno|15645|Inferno (The Divine Comedy, #1)|Dante Alighieri|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1333579470s/15645.jpg|2377563], Indian recluse Virgil White Buffalo, and borrowed supplies from big game hunter Omar.
The skill of the writing left me feeling as cold, alone, confused, and exhausted as Walt, but the intensity also left me needing to know what happened next, and how would this resolve when, inevitably, Walt and Shade met at the climax. And despite my earlier insistence that there was not a mystery, there is the very intriguing, if ethereal, mystery of what exactly happened to Walt during his journey up the mountain
Spoiler
Did he meet up with Virgil at all? Did he hallucinate? Were Indian spirits guiding him? Was that Virgil's hand with the ring on it? Etc.Note to fans of the Longmire television show: The first episode of season two, Unquiet Mind, is based on this book, with the set-up of that episode being almost identical to the first third of this book, as well as many thematic elements later. If possible, I'd try to read this first, but I didn't do that and I still enjoyed this book immensely.