|
Book Cover |
|
|
|
|
|
Excerpt |
|
The Cheyenne Nation
I left Dog in the truck so he wouldn't greet
the Cheyenne Nation with too much enthusiasm and noticed that Bill
didn't offer me the rifle or accompany me as I walked the ten yards back
in the shale dust; the red road stretched to the blue horizon. I stopped
about six feet away, as if I didn't know the Bear. His head stayed back,
and his eyes remained closed as he spoke softly. "What seems to be the
problem, Officer?"
"Careful, you'll blow my cover." I glanced
back, but Bill hadn't moved and continued to occupy the passenger seat.
I turned around. "You broke down?"
He still remained motionless. "We are
resting."
I noticed the rolled-up sleeves and the
grease and dirt on his folded arms. "So, you're broken down."
"Resting."
I nodded and approached a little closer,
leaning against the wavering flanks of Rezdawg, the green and white
paint looking as though it had been applied with a spatula. "What are
you doing out here?"
"It is the Rez. I live here."
"Here. Specifically."
One eye opened slightly to regard me.
"Waiting for you."
"Uh-huh, and how did you know I'd be out
here?"
He looked irritated that I ruined his
sunbath and finally opened both eyes and swiveled his neck to look at
me. "I did not." He flicked her eyes at the truck. "She did."
"I see."
"Where are you going?"
I glanced north, where the country got
wilder and the breaks of the river more jagged, then at Bill, who had
turned with the rifle now up and on the seat. "I think I'm being driven
out into the country to be executed."
Henry nodded, and the eyes closed again.
"Nice day for it."
"Yep."
|
|
|
|
|
Synopsis |
|
In Absalom, Wyoming, Mary
Barsad was arrested for shooting her husband, Wade, in the head six
times while he slept after he had burned down their barn that contained
Mary's eight horses. When Mary arrives in Sherriff Walt Longmire's jail
cell, Walt finds a woman that will barely talk and is not interested in
eating.
Over the next few days, with as little talking as she does, Walt
becomes convinces that Mary is innocent. Mary believes that her favorite
horse, Black Diamond Wahoo Sue, a champion cutting horse, was killed in
the fire. When tries to commit suicide, Walt realizes that he must do
something to help her. He drives over to Absolom and pretends to be Eric
Boss of Boss Insurance. There, he meets Juana, who works at the hotel
Walt is staying at, and her pre-teen son, Benjamin.
While
investing the burned down house and barn, he runs across an old cowpoke
named Hershel Vanskike. Hershel had worked for Mary and was the first to
find her crumpled on the ground outside of her house after the killing
and still holding a gun. Walt quickly realizes that Hershel is a man
that he can trust. In the local bar, which is missing the "b" on the
sign, so Walt calls it the AR, he runs across a foul character named
Cliff Cly. Cliff is drunk and wants to fight Walt, but Walt avoids him
and Cliff challenges him to sign up for the
Powder-River-Pound-Down-Tough-Man Contest the next night.
That night,
Walt hears two men talking in the AR and sneaks in through the mudroom.
When he steps on a squeaky board, the lights suddenly go out and the
bartender soon enters the mudroom with a shotgun. Walt is able to disarm
the man and knock him out, but the other man shoots a few rounds in his
direction as escapes out the front.
Realizing that there is much more
going on in this small town than meets the eye, Walt knows that he must
be very careful in his undercover investigation or he may end up dead
like Wade.
The Dark
Horse is a the fifth mystery book starring Sherriff Walt Longmire
and is written by Craig Johnson.
|
|
|
|
|
Review |
|
I do love a good mystery . . . and The
Dark Horse is just that. I also enjoy a good ol' fashioned western.
And while this is a not a western in the traditional sense, the story
does take place in a small, modern-day town in Wyoming.
Sherriff Walt
Longmire is a highly likable main character that I instantly bonded
with. I believe in his sense of righteousness and to his belief that the
truth must be revealed, no matter the cost. After all, the law is the
law.
It was nice to be shocked and surprised, and The Dark Horse
does this a few times. The plot of the story is a good one and the
writing is excellent. What I liked best about this hard-boiled sheriff
is that he doesn't use a lot of cuss words, although his second in command, Vic,
sure does. I also loved the fact that Walt found the perfect name for his
dog . . . Dog.
Craig Johnson does a fantastic job with his storytelling and
has created a wonderful character in Walt Longmire. The pace of the
story is quick and I found that I didn't ever want to stop reading. I
just had to find out if Mary was guilty of killing her husband, or if
someone else did it. If if it wasn't her, who was it?
This is the perfect book to be reading while sitting in front of a fire,
wrapped in a blanket as the snow falls outside the window.
Overall. The Dark Horse is an
excellent western mystery involving a sheriff that I would love to have
working on my case if I were ever wrongfully accused.
I rated this book a 9 out of 10.
The woman’s point of
view:
So, I didn’t love
this book nearly as much as my husband did. Maybe it’s a “guys” novel.
However, I did enjoy it and feel like it was well written. I enjoyed
the quirkiness and understated humor – especially in the naming of
people and things, i.e. Dog, The Cheyenne Nation, etc. I liked the
author’s turn of phrase and way of representing the oddball people of
this small western town. I know this author has several books in this
series that happen before this one takes place – and I think that maybe
I would have enjoyed this one much more if I had read the others first.
I felt like there was a lot of history with the Sheriff, Dog, and the
people in the Sheriff’s life, and had I had that background, it might
have enhanced this story. I did think that there was a little too much
description of scenery, but that’s just my bias. I tend to like the
relational aspects of fiction more than the descriptions.
Overall, I enjoyed
The Dark Horse and felt like it was an entertaining read.
I rated this book a
7 out of 10. |
|
|
