Craig Johnson
Sheriff Walt Longmire is enjoying a celebratory beer after renewing his weapons certification when a younger sheriff shows him a photograph of a group of armed men standing in front of a large steam locomotive. It transports him back to when, fresh from the battlefields of Vietnam, then-deputy Longmire accompanied his new boss to the annual meeting of the Wyoming Sheriffs' Association, held on a vintage excursion train known as The Western Star. The young Walt did not anticipate being thrust into the center of a mystery himself, as the train bearing 24 veteran sheriffs chugged across his home state, from Cheyenne to Evanston and back.
But the sheriff isn't in town for the certification alone. He's on his way to the capital for the parole hearing of one of the most dangerous men he has encountered in a lifetime of law enforcement.
This is an exceptionally fine read, even though I had a little bit of trouble knowing which of the two storylines I was in at the beginning of each chapter, and during jumps in the midst of chapters. Johnson does a good job of hiding a major twist at the end that finally connects the two. Obviously, I really enjoy the Longmire series of books, otherwise I wouldn't be reading through all of them, right? A major difference in this one is that it ends with a cliffhanger. (Bring on Depth of Winter!)
First Line: I pressed in on the knurled end of my Colt 1911A1 with my thumb at the same time rotating the barrel bushing a quarter turn clockwise to free the plug and recoil assembly, my hands working from rote.
Page 56 / Line 5: Feeling someone approaching from behind, I whirled with a snarling anger that caused Lucian to step back, whereupon he stumbled and almost fell, catching himself on the railing.
A Good Line from Somewhere in the Middle: The Belvedere wasn't my idea of a dream car, but it had a heater, and beggars should avoid being choosers on I-80 in the winter.
Last Line: "Business."
