My Washington Times Review of 'Land Of Wolves'

The Washington Times published my review of Craig Johnson’s Land of Wolves. 

I first became acquainted with Craig Johnson’s fictional modern-day Western sheriff by watching the A&E TV series “Longmire,” which is based on Mr. Johnson’s novels. (The show is now on Netflix).

Australian actor Robert Taylor portrayed Walt Longmire and Katee Sackhoff portrayed his deputy, Victoria “Vic” Moretti, a transplanted South Philly Italian-American and former Philadelphia cop. Lou Diamond Phillips portrayed Henry Standing Bear, Longmire’s best friend, and the series also offered a good number of other fine cast members.

I liked the Walt Longmire character, a big man who is tough, taciturn, intelligent, fair, and possesses a dry sense of humor. I also liked the rural crime stories, so I began reading the series of novels.

In his last outing in the novel “Depth of Winter,” Walt Longmire, the sheriff of Absaroka County, Wyoming, headed to Mexico to take on Tomas Bidarte, the head of a vicious drug cartel, who had kidnapped the sheriff’s daughter. He rescued her and killed the drug lord in a brutal fight, which left the sheriff’s body, as well as his mind, scarred.

In “Land of Wolves” we find a thinner, weaker and more reticent sheriff, who loses himself in moments of staring off into space. But the hanged body of a migrant Chilean shepherd, Miquel Hernandez, which may be a case of suicide or murder, moves the sheriff and his deputies to investigate. 
  
… “When you see a wolf, you can’t help feeling impressed,” Walt Longmire, the novel’s narrator tells us. “Maybe it’s because we’re so used to being around their more domesticated cousins, but this animal is something else. Aside from all the crap that you see on TV and in the movies or even in badly written books, they’re not the slathering beasts just outside the glow of the campfire; there’s only one word that comes to mind when I’ve ever seen one in the wild: empathic.

“It’s like they’re reading your mind, because they have to know what you’re thinking to simply survive.”

You can read the rest of the review via the below link:

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/sep/11/book-review-land-of-wolves/

Longmire, Netflix's Modern Western Crime Drama, Wraps Up

I watched the final episode of the sixth and final season of Longmire, the modern Western crime drama, on Netflix last night. 

The outstanding series was based on Craig Johnson's crime novels about a Wyoming sheriff. 

As I noted in my Washington Times review of Craig Johnson's latest Longmire novel, The Western Star, Walt Longmire is a big man who is taciturn and possesses a dry sense of humor. Craig Johnson describes him as overage, overweight and overly depressed, but he still gets up in the morning and tries to do his job. Longmire offers a modern take on what Craig Johnson calls the cowboy mythos and the romance of the old West.

Australian actor Robert Taylor portrayed Walt Longmire, Katee Sackhoff portrayed his deputy Victoria "Vic" Moretti, a South Philly girl and former Philadelphia cop, and Lou Diamond Philips portrayed Henry Standing Bear, Longmire's best friend. The series offers a good number of other fine cast members as well.

I enjoyed the series and I'll miss it.

You can read my Washington Times review of  The Western Star via the below link: 

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2018/04/a-modern-take-on-cowboy-mythos-my.html

Note: The above photo is of author Craig Johnson. 

A Modern Take On The 'Cowboy Mythos': My Washington Times Review of 'The Western Star'

The Washington Times published my review of Craig Johnson’s latest Longmire novel, The Western Star.

I first became acquainted with Craig Johnson’s fictional modern-day Western sheriff by watching the TV series “Longmire,” which is based on Mr. Johnson’s novels. (The show first appeared on A&E; and is now on Netflix). I liked the Walt Longmire character and the rural crime stories, so I began reading the books. With most crime dramas set in New York, Los Angeles and other major cities, it is refreshing that Mr. Johnson’s novels are set in the fictitious Absarka County of Wyoming.

Walt Longmire is a big man who is taciturn and possesses a dry sense of humor. Mr. Johnson describes him as overage, overweight and overly depressed, but he still gets up in the morning and tries to do his job. Like his previous novels, “The Western Star” offers a modern take on what Mr. Johnson calls the cowboy mythos and the romance of the epic West.

The novel opens in the present time with Sheriff Longmire having a beer with Iron Cloud, an Arapaho sheriff, after completing a weapons certification course with his sidearm, a Colt 1911A1 .45, at the Wyoming Law Enforcement Academy in Cheyenne.

Sheriff Longmire requalified at the academy every four years, which coincided with the scheduled four-year parole hearing of one of the most dangerous men he has ever arrested. This year the criminal is using medical reasons for his parole and Longmire is dead set against him being released from his life sentence.

...Longmire, carrying his trusty Colt and a paperback copy of Agatha Christie’s “Murder on the Orient Express,” said goodbye to his wife at the station. Pondering his young and troubled marriage, he boarded the Western Star. In store for Longmire on this train journey with 24 sheriffs and other characters was a murder mystery that would haunt him for years.

“The Western Star” offers the series’ regular supporting characters, such as Longmire’s undersheriff, Victoria Moretti, a tough and tough-talking former South Philly cop. Also appearing is Henry Standing Bear, Longmire’s lifelong Cheyenne friend, and Longmire’s daughter Cady.

You can read the rest of the review via the below link:

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/apr/23/book-review-the-western-star-by-craig-johnson/