{Synopsis} –Introducing Wyoming’s Sheriff Walt Longmire in this riveting novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Hell Is Empty and As the Crow Flies, the first in the Walt Longmire Mystery Series, the basis for LONGMIRE, the hit A&E original drama series
Fans of Ace Atkins, Nevada Barr and Robert B. Parker will love this outstanding first novel, in which New York Times bestselling author Craig Johnson introduces Sheriff Walt Longmire of Wyoming’s Absaroka County. Johnson draws on his deep attachment to the American West to produce a literary mystery of stunning authenticity, and full of memorable characters. After twenty-five years as sheriff of Absaroka County, Walt Longmire’s hopes of finishing out his tenure in peace are dashed when Cody Pritchard is found dead near the Northern Cheyenne Reservation. Two years earlier, Cody has been one of four high school boys given suspended sentences for raping a local Cheyenne girl. Somebody, it would seem, is seeking vengeance, and Longmire might be the only thing standing between the three remaining boys and a Sharps .45-70 rifle.
With lifelong friend Henry Standing Bear, Deputy Victoria Moretti, and a cast of characters both tragic and humorous enough to fill in the vast emptiness of the high plains, Walt Longmire attempts to see that revenge, a dish best served cold, is never served at all.
{My thoughts} – This books starts off talking about Walt Longmire’s obsession with a particular file about an Cheyenne Indian girl named Melissa Little Bird. She was clearly gang raped by four boys who had led her into basement. The saddest part is that she suffers from fetal alcohol syndrome. This is that one case that every cop has the one they can’t shake because they couldn’t bring it to justice. He has the file memorized from the inside out and just thinking about it the entire case washes over his every thought. The connection between Walt is that Melissa’s Uncle Henry Standing Bear and him are old friends from both youth and military. He feels he owes it to his friend to bring justice to the boys that had wronged such a trusting girl.
It is up to Walt to figure out why the boys that had been accused of the crimes against Melissa have been turning up dead. He also goes through a trial and error love mishap throughout the book. The book essentially ends with an unexpected twist.
Final Conclusion: 1 Star Rating.
