"A wonderfully spirited story with just the right combo of thrilling suspense and humour!"
Reviewed by Audrey Lawrence
Posted January 26, 2014
Holiday | Mystery | Novella / Short Story
It is the day before Christmas and Sheriff Walt Longmire
fully and unusually expects it to be a quiet and peaceful
one. With the heavy snow falling, a full Denver Broncos
mug full of coffee and twenty minutes left in his shift,
Walt settles into reading his old and much loved copy of
Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol when a young woman
arrives carrying a large garment bag.
She asks if he is the Sheriff of Absaroka County, Wyoming
and then asks how long he had been Sheriff. Walt thinks
this is a strange question. She then asks about his
predecessor, Lucian Connally, so Walt drives her up to see
the old Sheriff at the Durant Home for Assisted Living.
As the mysterious young woman appears in the glow of the
light in Lucian's room almost like a ghost of Christmas
Past, she whispers just one word. Suddenly, the story
shifts to a Christmas Eve in 1988 with a major snowstorm
blowing and a badly injured girl coming into Durant by
helicopter. All roads are closed and there is no way to
get the girl, about the same age as Walt's daughter Cady,
to the Children's Hospital in Denver. Without the right
equipment and care, the badly burned Japanese girl will
surely die that night. How can they possibly save her?
Waiting in the hanger for the helicopter to arrive, Walt
spies an old decommissioned plane and thinks there might be
a way they could try. With a quick stop at the Euskadi Bar
to separate Lucian from his whiskey and friends, they begin
a harrowing and white-knuckled journey with so many things
going wrong that it makes Murphy of the famous Murphy's Law
seem like an outright optimist. Could an aging WW II one-
legged pilot be able to outrun a terrifying and blinding
blizzard to get to Denver on time?
In his own words at the start of this fascinating and
engaging novella, New York Times bestselling author Craig
Johnson tells how this planned little short story grew and
readers will be very happy that it did! Fans of the Walt
Longmire series will definitely enjoy the wonderful dry wit
of Johnson's prairie phrasing as well as revisiting the
early days of Sheriff Longmire taking up his responsibility
after his election from the formidable old Sheriff Lucian
Connally. Readers who are new to Johnson, will both be
thrilled with SPIRIT OF STEAMBOAT and delighted that they
have a whole series to enjoy after reading this highly
compelling flashback story.
I have to admit that I just love Walt Longmire as a
character (both in this novella and in the Longmire
series). No matter what the obstacle, his nature just has
him doing the right thing, regardless if that is allowed by
the law, a regulation, or a blizzard that just doesn't know
when to quit. Like flint to stone, the sparks fly and the
humour is brilliant and barbed as Lucian gets in his little
digs about Walt and what that ex-marine doesn't know about
flying. Secondary characters and settings are all well
developed and realistically described by Johnson's
masterful hand as he skillfully develops the intertwined
storyline. SPIRIT OF STEAMBOAT is truly a wonderfully spirited story
with just the right combination of total suspense and witty
humour that will make any reader want to savour reading it
again and again, year after year, after thrilling to its
first wild and bucking ride! It is a book you will want
to buy for a friend and then keep your own copy for
yourself just like Walt and his own treasured Christmas
Carol. SPIRIT OF STEAMBOAT is a special treat for Christmas
or anytime of the year. Enjoy it to the fullest!
SUMMARY
A holiday tale from the New York Times bestselling
author of the Walt Longmire mystery series, the inspiration
for A&E’s hit show Longmire “It’s a question of what you have to do, what you have to
live with if you don’t.” Sheriff Walt Longmire is reading A Christmas Carol in
his office on December 24th when he’s interrupted by the
ghost of Christmas past: a young woman with a hairline scar
across her forehead and more than a few questions about
Walt’s predecessor, Lucian Connally. Walt doesn’t recognize
the mystery woman, but she seems to know him and claims to
have something she must return to Connally. With his
daughter, Cady, and his undersheriff Vic Moretti in
Philadelphia for the holidays, Walt is at loose ends, and
despite the woman’s reticence to reveal her identity, he
agrees to help her. At the Durant Home for Assisted Living Lucian Connally is
several tumblers into his Pappy Van Winkle’s and swears he’s
never clapped eyes on the woman before. Disappointed, she
whispers “Steamboat” and begins a story that takes them all
back to Christmas Eve 1988, when three people died in a
terrible crash and a young girl had the slimmest chance of
survival . . . back to a record– breaking blizzard, to
Walt’s first year as sheriff, with a young daughter at home
and a wife praying for his safety . . . back to a
whiskey-soaked World War II vet ready to fly a
decommissioned plane and risk it all to save a life. Back to the Spirit of Steamboat.
What do you think about this review?
Comments
No comments posted.
Registered users may leave comments.
Log in or register now!
|
© 2003-2024 off-the-edge.net
all rights reserved Privacy Policy