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!