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    The Western Star
    The Western Star
    The Western Star
    Audiobook7 hours

    The Western Star

    Written by Craig Johnson

    Narrated by George Guidall

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Sheriff Walt Longmire is enjoying a beer when a younger sheriff shows him a photograph of twenty-five armed men standing in front of a Challenger steam locomotive. It transports him back to a time when, fresh from the battlefields of Vietnam, then-deputy
    Longmire accompanied his boss, Lucian Connolly, to the annual Wyoming sheriff’s junket held on the excursion train known as the Western Star. Armed with his trusty Colt .45 and a paperback of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, the young Walt
    was ill-prepared for the machinations of twenty-four veteran sheriffs, let alone the cavalcade of curious characters that accompanied them.

    Now the photograph—along with an upcoming parole hearing for one of the most dangerous men Walt has encountered—hurtles the sheriff into a head-on collision of past and present, placing those he loves most squarely on the tracks of runaway revenge.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateSep 5, 2017
    ISBN9781501962608
    The Western Star
    Author

    Craig Johnson

    Craig Johnson es el director principal de ministerios de la Iglesia de Lakewood con Joel Osteen, que supervisa todos los ministerios pastorales y es el fundador de la Fundación Champions y los centros de desarrollo del Club de Campeones para necesidades especiales, con más de 75 centros en todo el mundo. Craig es el coautor de Champions Curriculum, un plan de estudios cristiano de alcance completo para aquellos con necesidades especiales. Es autor de Lead Vertically que inspira a la gente a ofrecerse como voluntario y a construir grandes equipos que perduren y Champion que habla sobre cómo el viaje milagroso de un niño a través del autismo está cambiando el mundo. Craig y su esposa Samantha, tienen tres hijos: Cory, Courtney y Connor.

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    Reviews for The Western Star

    4.5/5

    235 ratings20 reviews

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    • 1/5
      I hate Walt Longmire and yes I know it’s fiction but he represents all that is wrong with this world, past and present. Too many self-center know-it-all bleep holes with power! This character and all real-life men like him should go straight to hell and rot there for eternity.

      I got hooked on the detective mystery stories, the settings, and the range of characters. But after reading twelve of Craig Johnson's Longmire Mysteries and watching all six seasons of Longmire on A&H and Netflix I realized the worse part of all these stories was Walt Longmire the Sheriff. Why? Because he is the worse husband, bleep hole father, rotten boss, and bleep friend anyone could have. You would be better off never marrying, being an orphan, being homeless, and only having enemies than having old bleeping Walt in your life.
      Bleeping Walt never trusts Henry who is better at being a father and grandfather to Walt’s daughter and granddaughter. Henry always does Walt’s dirty work and gets little credit. Henry should have been the focus of these novels and Walt Longmire should have been a rodeo clown ? that cleans the bullbleep off Henry’s boots.
      Walt may have been written as a larger than life hero but when you carefully read you see crappie comments like “greatest legal mind”, which is not a compliment to his daughter but rather a condescending remark from a character that is supposedly so smart that he can speak on any historical or literary subject while being to self-absorbed to own a cell phone. The bleeping hole demands everyone to be his personal phone booth. Buy a phone, learn how to use it, and shut the bleep up.
      I only hope that Craig Johnson will man up and kill off this dime-store hero Walt Longmire and have Henry save the day again but this time have Henry ride off into the sunset with Cady and Lola! I really hate Walt Longmire ?
    • 5/5
      Wow. The best Longmire yet! Cant wait to read the next one.
    • 5/5
      Typical Longmire. As a recorded book, it moved right along and was quite enjoyable. We will listen to others, based upon our experience with this one.
    • 5/5
      I love this series. My only complaint is that I have to wait a year for resolution of the cliffhanger.
    • 5/5
      Two mysteries in one with reflections on Longmire’s pastTwo parallel stories that come together at the conclusion leaving one uncertainty. The first story dates back to the 70s when Longmire has just returned from Vietnam and gotten married. He signed up to be a deputy sheriff and had gottem married. He wife was pregnant. He and his wife are debating a split up and Longmire is struggling with whether he wants to remain a deputy. He is on a train ride with all the Wyoming sheriffs and some people are murdered and he gets called on to investigate the murders. The second story was related to disputing the commutation of the sentence of a killer who was requesting compassionate discharge because of cancer. He had been a serial murderer arrested by Longmire and Lucian and they were protesting the idea of release. It gets more involved from there.
    • 4/5
      The Western Star (2017) is the thirteenth novel in Craig Johnson’s now sixteen-book-long series featuring Wyoming sheriff Walt Longmire. The Longmire series began in 2004 with The Cold Dish, and Johnson has pretty much been adding a new volume to the Longmire story once a year ever since. There are even three short story collections, two novellas, and one standalone e-book short story about the sheriff, all published between 2012 and 2016. That’s a lot of Walt Longmire for fans to enjoy, but for whatever reason, I found myself still not having read the middle-bunch of the novels, books 9-13 or the story collections. Now, I can mark book 13 off that list. As it turns out, The Western Star answers all of the questions I had about the next book in the series, Depth of Winter, so I would strongly recommend reading these two in the order in which they were published. That’s not to say that Depth of Winter doesn’t work well as a standalone, because it does. I just think that it would be so much more enjoyable to read these two back-to-back now that both of them have been published because they combine to tell what is essentially one long story about Walt and his daughter Cady. Even though Johnson deftly moves in and out of his three separate plotlines, The Western Star is a little complicated. One plotline flashes all the way back to 1972 when Longmire is a brand new deputy sheriff of two-weeks experience. A second takes place in the present and sees Longmire in Cheyenne to offer his testimony at a probation hearing just as he has done every four years since the incarcerated killer has been eligible for parole. And a third, which is really a part of the 1972 plotline, explores the relationship between Longmire and his new wife, a relationship that is on the brink of ending in divorce even though his wife is four months pregnant. All the usual suspects are involved in keeping Walt safe from those who wish him harm – and from himself and his tendency to just jump in with both feet no matter the personal danger – in this one. Lucian Connolly, the old sheriff who first hired Longmire is there mostly for moral support; Vic Moretti is around to take the heat off of Longmire as often as she can; and Henry Standing Bear is there to do any-and-everything it takes to help out his best friend. Henry and Walt have had a bond since the Vietnam War, and almost half a century later, it is as strong as ever.Present-day action takes place in November on a special train full of Wyoming sheriffs. The “Western Star” is a vintage “excursion” train that stops every two hours on its way to deliver all the sheriffs to their Wyoming Sheriffs’ Association meeting, and when one of them is murdered, another disappears, and Longmire himself is knocked cold and left for dead on the tracks, Walt Longmire decides that maybe, just maybe, law enforcement is not something he really wants to do with the rest of his life.The Western Star is Craig Johnson’s tribute to Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, and Johnson does himself and Christie proud. Johnson even has Longmire carry a copy of the Christie novel around in his back pocket for most of The Western Star despite Longmire’s inability to get past the last chapter of Part II of the novel before his reading time abruptly ends. But no matter how many times that book slips out of Longmire’s pocket, he always manages to retrieve it just in case he might want to slip in a page or two later on. Bottom Line: The Western Star is an important book in the Longmire series because it provides so much of Walt’s backstory. It is also a key book in the sense that it portends the near-estrangement between Longmire and his daughter that becomes a key issue in the books to follow. In many ways, The Western Star is great fun, but this is a serious book, and it does not end well for Longmire and what’s left of his family. Just be thankful that you won’t have to wait a whole year to find out what happens next…Depth of Winter was published in 2018.
    • 3/5
      This is book 13 in the Longmire series and is told in two threads, one present day and one in 1972. That gets confusing at times. .One is a parole hearing for a really bad dude, the other is a train ride on the Western Star...a meeting of Wyoming Sheriffs. We get a lot of the back story about Walt's marriage and early career as a Wyoming lawman but that gets mixed up with today.
    • 4/5
      A cleverly done "who done it" with the a cliff-hanger of an ending. Much better than the last one.
    • 3/5
      Disappointing. I expected better from this author. Leave it at that.
    • 3/5
      I found this book extremely fun. The story follows Agatha Christie's model of Ten Little Indians (Then There Were None), with 10 English spies stranded on a Scottish island during WWII, and then one by one the deaths begin. The reader and the living cast attempt to discover the killer among themselves before all are dead. While reading the story, I tried remembering Christie's story. I do remember the various movie versions. Susan Elia MacNeal presents great characters with all their foibles and problems. Each character has been stranded on the island due to some mistake. A winter storm pelts the island making transportation off the island temporarily halted, but a German submarine and the British authorities head to the island.
    • 5/5
      Lost of good stuff in this well narrated audiobook. A serious villain from the past lets us see early days Deputy Longmire in action and in despair; the later because Martha does not want to be married to a cop. A celebratory train ride for Wyoming's Sheriffs turns deadly as two of them disappear. In parallel, Walt gets involved with the clemency proceedings of a vicious serial murderer as he and the Cheyenne Nation are moving his daughter and granddaughter into her new home. Another very good entry in this excellent series.
    • 4/5
      Tight and clever plotting in a story blending a case from the past that has reverberations in the present for Sheriff Walt Longmire. The part from the past involves the lore/lure of a train and this particular one, The Western Star, gives the book its title. Intriguing plot twists occur as readers go along for the ride, plus the story concludes with a cliffhanger. So very clever a writer, Mr. Craig Johnson.
    • 5/5
      Excellent book and series.
    • 5/5
      Every four years, Absaroka County Sheriff Walt Longmire makes a trip to Cheyenne to attend a parole hearing. Whoever this is and whatever they've done, it left a lasting impression on Walt. He won't be facing this year's hearing alone. Henry Standing Bear, retired sheriff Lucian Connally and Walt's undersheriff, Vic, have accompanied him to Cheyenne, and they'll all be staying with Walt's daughter, Cady, and his granddaughter, Lola. Walt's mind keeps turning back to the train journey that ultimately led to the recurring parole hearings. A much younger Walt has just returned from Vietnam, married his sweetheart Martha, and taken a job as deputy to Lucian Connally. Walt will be accompanying Sheriff Connally on the Wyoming Sheriffs' Association's annual excursion on the Western Star. When one of the sheriffs is murdered during the journey, all of the other sheriffs are under suspicion. Although Walt has only been on the job for two weeks, he'll have to take the lead in the investigation.I love mysteries set on trains since I've always been fascinated by train travel. Johnson moves smoothly between past events and the present day story line, and the parallel stories are evenly paced. By this point in the series, readers expect at least one scene in which Walt battles the elements and risks his life for the cause of justice. It's more plausible this time around since it's the younger (and presumably stronger and more agile) Walt who's defying death. This book also advances the overarching series storyline, but leaves readers hanging on the last page. Some series readers might prefer to save this one until the next book in the series is released to shorten the suspense.
    • 5/5
      This is a real game-changer in the Longmire series. First of all, we get a lot of the back story about Walt's marriage and early career as a Wyoming lawman. The chapters alternate between a train trip he took soon after becoming a deputy and present-day events. In the present he wants to prevent the parole of a prisoner at the Wyoming State Prison. The back story fills us in on the criminal and his relationship with Walt in the past. Events in the present day lead Walt into a new chapter of his life and left me stunned. Can't wait for the next book.
    • 4/5
      The Western Star by Craig Johnson is a 2017 Viking publication. This is the thirteenth book in the Walt Longmire series. ‘He did it, she did it, or they all did it’Walt never misses the parole hearing, which takes place every four years, for a prisoner over at Cheyenne, who happens to be the most dangerous criminal he ever encountered. This time, though, the prisoner in question is dying and seeking compassionate release. As Walt continues to oppose the release, he is taken on a trip down memory lane, back to the seventies, when he agreed to accompany Lucien to a Wyoming Sheriff’s Association junket, which was held on the excursion train called, ‘The Western Star’. It is always a treat to check in with Walt Longmire. This installment is slightly different as it bounces between the past and the present. But,for the most part the bulk of the story is focused on Walt’s past. This does mean that once more a few of our very favorite characters have a much smaller role, but we do get to know Walt, a little better, and even get to hear from Martha, too. As Walt boards the train, with twenty-four veteran Sheriffs, he could never have imagined how the events that unfolded would haunt him all these years, or how they would collide with the present in an incredible twist of fate. In some ways, this story is like a backhanded compliment to Agatha Christie’s ‘Murder on the Orient Express’, the novel Walt carries with him aboard the train. I thought this was a nice touch and enjoyed the tone of the story while Walt has a battle of wits with twenty-four seasoned sheriffs, and murder follows them aboard the train. Anyone familiar with Christie’s work will appreciate the homage to her techniques and how they applied to his story. I never saw the surprise twist coming and was impressed with clever plotting, all of which was very entertaining… until the past catches up with the present. The story takes on a much more sinister tone at that point and ends with one of those awful – ‘to be continued’ storylines. Once I finished the book, my first thought was how other devoted fans of this series would respond to this installment. I think some may have mixed feelings about it, but I thought it was a great bridge story that will segue nicely into what will most assuredly be the ultimate showdown. I enjoyed the setting aboard the train, the ‘whodunit’ mystery, and getting a rare peek at the young Walt Longmire. I was enjoying the golden age nostalgia so much, I was ill prepared for the jolt out my reverie, dropping me back into the present with a thud. It was hard to wrap my head around how everything was tied up together, but it was pretty tense. Overall, I enjoyed this book just as much as all the other Longmire novels, despite this being the second book in a row where key players took a backseat. But, I have a feeling, everyone will be back with a vengeance in the next installment, which promises to be one heck of a wild ride. 4 stars
    • 5/5
      The Western Star is an old steam train, retired now but back in the 1970s used by the Wyoming Sheriffs Association as transport to their annual wingding/conference/hootenanny. In 1972, Walt Longmire was a brand-new deputy sheriff fresh out of Vietnam, newly married and expecting a child, and completely unsure what he wants to do with his life. He doesn't think he's cut out to be a lawman long-term, but anyone who's read any of the first 12 books in this series knows he's wrong about that. The storyline jumps back and forth between that 1972 train trip and the present day, where Walt, his old sheriff mentor Lucian and buddy Henry Standing Bear are on a road trip to the big city, Cheyenne, partly to visit daughter Cady and granddaughter Lola but mostly to testify against the medical release of a prisoner who was sentenced to life decades ago. The identity of the prisoner is never mentioned until the very end of the book, but it slowly becomes clear that it is somehow related to the journey on the Western Star that Walt took long ago.Shifting perspective between past and present can be horribly confusing in the wrong hands, but not here. I'm not sure how Johnson does it, but even though the timeline bounces back and forth even within the same chapter, it was always instantly clear "when" we were without any distractingly obvious signposts.Both the past and present timelines are highly compelling and the mystery is satisfyingly complex but sensible. The only flaw I can find is that the book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, and the next book won't be out for another year. I guess I'll have to practice my patient waiting skills.
    • 5/5
      Before I wax poetic about the latest mystery from my favorite writer, I want to warn you about two things. One, if you hate cliffhangers, you're going to hate the fact that The Western Star has one that's going to make your jaw drop. Even I wanted to shake my fist in Johnson's face just a little bit. Fortunately, I tend to be even-tempered about dangling storylines. What's the second thing I want to warn you about? If you happen to be readers who judge each Longmire novel on how often your favorite characters appear, you may-- or may not-- be happy with The Western Star. This book is 95% Walt and Lucian and 5% Cady, Henry, and Vic. Me? I go where the writer takes me and see how I feel about it when that last page is turned.His previous novel, An Obvious Fact, had large stretches of humor that kept me laughing, but The Western Star is quite somber. This fits the tone of both storylines. Yes, there are two storylines in this book, and readers travel between fresh-from-Vietnam, brand-new deputy Walt Longmire on the train with Lucian and all those other sheriffs and the Walt Longmire of the present day. Don't worry, it's not confusing; the chapters are clearly marked so we can all keep track of what year we're in. (Sometimes I need all the help I can get.)Craig Johnson always seems to be able to surprise me. Yes, Walt is Walt, and a character tells him one of the things that makes him so special: [With all you've done], "you've preserved your humanity." But there are the other surprises, like that cliffhanger, and my being blindsided by whodunit when Johnson gives us clues all along the way. And what about all those scenes where Walt is simply being Grandpa to Lola. Watching this big man feed his tiny granddaughter, talk to her, and just sit quietly with her asleep on his chest can melt your heart.The Western Star is tricky and action-packed, and it does have homages to both Agatha Christie (Murder on the Orient Express) and John Wayne (Big Jake), but one of the sobering thoughts brought up in its pages is one we long-time Longmire lovers don't want to think about. Walt is, though-- retirement. He's been putting away bad guys for a long, long time, he's tired, and when he holds Lola, the end of the trail is looking mighty fine. This next book is shaping up to be very interesting indeed, and I'm going to be among the first to grab a copy.
    • 3/5
      Walt, Henry, Vic and Lucian are on the road again, headed to Cheyenne to combine a visit with "The Greatest Legal Mind of all Time" with a parole hearing Walt goes to every four years. In back and forth fashion, we hear the tale of this man's incarceration, when Walt is a new deputy for Sheriiff Connelly aboard a state wide Wyoming Sheriff's Association get together on the Western Star, an old steam driven train. Walt is young. It's 1972, much of the back story also has to do with his new wife Martha and whether or not he feels being a deputy is the right fit after Vietnam. Being a former Marine investigator comes in handy, and one of the sheriffs, Marv Leeland, asks for fresh eyes into some killings across the state. In the present, politics play a role in whether or not certain convicts should get compassionate release and a cliff hanger makes me think we will spend the next book on the road as well, instead of back in Absaroka County.
    • 3/5
      Disappointing