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Book Notes Written with a loving hand by kitt some time around 22:55 on 15 April 2015

Walt Longmire, Book 10

Yep. Keep reading the series. The next book is due out in about a month. Shock! I preordered it.

This Walt Longmire book is another mystery book. It starts with a death. I have to say, I find it a rather relief in contrast from the Bosch books where the bad guy is ALWAYS A COP. Not in this series. I'm still enjoying the wit, cultural references and history lessons in these books. We finally see some emotion in the man, and, holy shit, his visions are actual, real life, physical entities! Hot damn! No, wait, no they aren't. It's weird. Worth reading.

What I find amusing in this particular book is that while, once again, Longmire is stunningly impossibly super-human in his physical endurance and recovery, in this book, EVERYONE ACKNOWLEDGES IT. Hallelujah, praise Hey-zeus, and all that. One really doesn't get shot, walk miles in a blizzard dripping blood from the open carotid artery, and manage to function just two days later. Doesn't happen. Yet, sometimes you need a hero, so the author gives you one, but reminds you with another character that, well, getting shot in passing in the gut really is a mortal issue needing attending. Not that you can tell with Longmire.

Did I mention the worth reading part? Well, I meant it. This series is going on the list with the Dresden books. Speaking of, when is the next one due out? Has to be before the next Song of Ice and Fire. F'ing GRRM schedule.

Didn't really want to watch Longmire anyway

Blog kitt decided around 19:15 on 10 April 2015 to publish this:

Okay, since I'm nearing the end of the published books of the Walt Longmire series, I bothered to look up the television series details. I've been meaning to start watching the series since book one, and thought I'd check out how the series was handled.

Spirit of Steamboat

Book Notes kitt decided around 18:57 on 10 April 2015 to publish this:

Walt Longmire, Book 9.5

So, apparently, Johnson writes Longmire books for the fun of it. Sometimes they are short stories which are released, say, around every Christmas time, to be later gathered into a compendium for those who either missed the individual stories, or want to have them all in one place. And sometimes, when he starts writing a short story, it just sorta gets away from him. Or so, this is what he said when explaining the existence of the Spirit of Steamboat, a half-sized, not mystery, Walt Longmire book.

I have to say, I rather liked this book because it wasn't a mystery. It was a Walt Longmire adventure, which is great in its own right. But better than that, this book had the elements of suspense that, in this case, I would argue, were stronger than in the mystery books. And suspense in a good sense, too, the OMG OMG OMG KEEP READING READ FASTER sort of way that I like, not the torturous "omg what the f--- is going on I can't read this any more" sort of discomfort way that causes me to skip to the end of the book sort of way that I hate.

I was amused when Johnson had Walt hear the drums in the rotors and remark on them, given that Walt was surprised to hear the drums in the first of the Longmire series. So, either he didn't hear any drums in the intervening 22 years, or all the crazy antics between this book and book one of the series caused amnesia in the man. Both are plausible, given how much physical abuse Longmire takes when doing The Right Thing™.

Totally recommended.

Serpent's Tooth

Book Notes Written with a loving hand by kitt some time around 20:19 on 5 April 2015

Walt Longmire, Book 9

Okay, I was somewhat excited to be reading a Walt Longmire book that didn't start off with some murder investigation. I mean, there are only so many deaths you can have in a small county before everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, notices and gets the fuck out of there. Okay, yes, some of the books were about escaped convicts, but even that resulted in a lot of death. And one particular story had only a stolen horse.

This one, the main plot premise doesn't involve the investigation into a death. Hot damn.

Once again, Johnson doesn't disappoint with a fast paced modern day, small down, western mystery. The clues were a little too obvious in this book as to what was going on, which, of course, leads the reader to think, COME ON, DON'T BE DUMB, at the characters. Of course, in Johnson style, Longmire has figured out what's going on, and it just playing along until the right time to expose his knowledge.

I really wish I would learn the art of playing along.

I enjoyed this book. I'm nearing the end of the written Longmire books, as there are only two left. I guess I'll have to wait for Johnson to write more. At least he doesn't write at GRRM pace. Gah, would suck.

As The Crow Flies

Book Notes Yeah, kitt finished writing this at 19:26 on 23 March 2015

Walt Longmire, Book 8

Okay, book eight of the Longmire series. While I thought I might be growing tired of reading these straight through, I was mistaken. The books are entertaining reads. The wit is great, though less of it in this one. The plot was clever in that the original murder was, then wasn't, then maybe was, a murder.

And gosh golly a crap tonne of people die in this series. Upside, at least this wasn't actually IN Longmire's county. That's the only upside.

This book has the introduction of another strong female lead, which is amusing in some sense, not so amusing in another. That "another" being the case where, well, in future books there are sure to be annoying tug-o-wars over Longmire, full of discomfort.

This book also reminds us of previous foreshadowing of not-so-great-things happening to Cady, also in future books.

Fortunately, those are in future books. This one was totally entertaining, and, for once, Walt didn't freeze something off or collect another crazy injury. Yay!

Recommended.

Unrelated to the book, HEY! Look! I'm in the second half of my goal of reading 52 books this year, and it's only week 13th, still the first quarter of the year. Yay!

Hell is Empty

Book Notes kitt decided around 09:33 on 4 March 2015 to publish this:

Walt Longmire, Book 7

Of surprise to no one, including me, I enjoyed this book. I am very much enjoying Johnson's writing style, complete with historical references, literary quotes, and quick-witted responses.

This book was a bit different, in that the bad guys, well, were all bad guys. The actual deaths in this book were, well, righteous deaths, in self defense and by someone with intent to kill. There's one very major plot device that was entertainingly obvious, but acceptable, in the book. When I became aware of it early on, watching for the device to repeat itself made its appearance that more entertaining.

In this book, Walt nearly freezes to death. Again. You'd think that after nearly freezing to death saving the Cheyenne Nation the year before, he'd be less likely to put himself in the situation to do so again. But that's the thing about fictional characters: they can be larger than life, and survive.

And sometimes, you need someone larger than life to inspire you to do better in yours.

This, as all of the Longmire books, is highly recommended.

Related, at the end of the book is a list of character inspired books to read. I am uncertain if I'll read them all, but it's an interesting list:

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