Depth of Winter

They build ‘em different in Wyoming. For the last decade and change, Craig Johnson has been constructing a modern day superhero in his lead character, Walt Longmire. Part philosopher, part throwback to the old cowboy heroes, and part Timex watch, ol' Walt takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin' while tossing out the occasional one-liner and playing fast and loose with the number of times a square-jawed ex-Marine on the verge of qualifying for a AARP card can take a punch.

In his newest romp, DEPTH OF WINTER, Walt has left the familiar and relatively safe confines of Absaroka County, Wyoming, to head south of the border to rescue his daughter, Cady, from the hands of the nigh-unkillable cartel head, Tomas Bidarte. Walt and Bidarte had tangled in previous books, but Tomas has crossed and uncrossable line by going after Cady, and it's time for the wily sheriff to finish the war.

Walt crosses the border and goes after a well-armed cartel with little more than an Ambrose Bierce biography in his pocket, hooking up with a collection of roughnecks and oddballs worthy of Absaroka County to aid him in his fight. However, waltzing into the middle of the Chihuahuan desert and saving Cady ain't gonna be easy.

But, as Longmire's very name would suggest: It never is.

I've been following Johnson's novels since 2007. THE COLD DISH, the first one, came out in 2004. I've enjoyed all his books. Even the worst Longmire novel is better than many writers' best novel. Every year, I look forward to another tale of Walt's exploits. As usual, Craig delivers the goods. This go-round is a high-octane, long-odds, search-and-rescue adventure with literary nods to the aforementioned Bierce, Hemingway, and Miguel de Cervantes.

Like Cervantes' most famous character, Longmire finds himself tilting at windmills and trying to retain some semblance of chivalry in a lawless land against lawless people. At times, his good nature and unwillingness to pull a trigger on men who truly deserve to die gets frustrating in that same way that you want to yell at Donald Pleasence for revealing his world domination plans to James Bond before setting the death trap in motion and leaving the room–JUST KILL ‘EM ALREADY, WALT!–but, it's that goodness and unwillingness to kill that makes Walt who he is, and makes us keep rooting for him. Never change, Sheriff. Never change.

Every year, I run out and get the newest Longmire book as soon as it's released. It's one of the few books that I will actually purchase as a hardcover (because I'm cheap). Every year, I tear through it as quickly as I can because I want to know what torture the poor sheriff is going to have to endure. And every year, when the adventure is done, I feel sad because I have to wait a full year for another trip with ol' Walt. DEPTH OF WINTER, while taking place in the relentless heat of a Mexican desert, delivers on the chills.

I'd like to think that I'd have the fortitude to walk smiling into a compound of men who think nothing of peeling off someone's face and stitching the skin-mask to a soccer ball, and come out on the other side, but let's be honest: I'll leave a restaurant if I have to wait for a table. I don't do adversity. I guess that's why I have such admiration for Walt Longmire. He does nothing but adversity.

They build ‘em different in Wyoming.