• Spirit of Steamboat

  • A Walt Longmire Story
  • By: Craig Johnson
  • Narrated by: George Guidall
  • Length: 3 hrs and 39 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (3,411 ratings)

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Spirit of Steamboat

By: Craig Johnson
Narrated by: George Guidall
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Publisher's summary

A holiday tale from the best-selling author of the Walt Longmire mystery series, the inspiration for A&E's hit show, Longmire.

"It' s a question of what you have to do, what you have to live with if you don't." Sheriff Walt Longmire is reading A Christmas Carol in his office on December 24th when he's interrupted by the ghost of Christmas past: a young woman with a hairline scar across her forehead and more than a few questions about Walt' s predecessor, Lucian Connally. Walt doesn' t recognize the mystery woman, but she seems to know him and claims to have something she must return to Connally.

With his daughter, Cady, and his undersheriff Vic Moretti in Philadelphia for the holidays, Walt is at loose ends, and despite the woman' s reticence to reveal her identity, he agrees to help her. At the Durant Home for Assisted Living Lucian Connally is several tumblers into his Pappy Van Winkle' s and swears he's never clapped eyes on the woman before. Disappointed, she whispers " Steamboat" and begins a story that takes them all back to Christmas Eve 1988, when three people died in a terrible crash and a young girl had the slimmest chance of survival...back to a record-breaking blizzard, to Walt' s first year as sheriff, with a young daughter at home and a wife praying for his safety...back to a whiskey-soaked World War II vet ready to fly a decommissioned plane and risk it all to save a life.

©2013 Craig Johnson (P)2013 Recorded Books

What listeners say about Spirit of Steamboat

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one of my favorites

This is one of my favorite novels. I enjoyed every bit of it & have heard it more than once.

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Exceptional!

My favorite book of the series so far! Very well written, perfectly narrated. Not really Walt’s book but well worth the listen.

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Excellent Storyline

This is a wonderful read which I listened to in two sessions! Would thoroughly recommend.

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One of the Best Walt Longmire stories

I've listened to all of the Walt Longmire series and this is probably my favorite, which is saying a lot. The performance is spot-on, as always, and the action is great.

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If You Didn't Already Love Walt Longmire You Will

Would you consider the audio edition of Spirit of Steamboat to be better than the print version?

I haven't read the print version but the audio versions of these books are always wonderful.

What did you like best about this story?

This is may seem like the obligatory Christmas episode of a series but is so much more. Each character is so well-drawn that is it vey easy to imagine each of them in his or her entirety. The action and suspense is palpable and there is nothing smaltzy at all. I loved this book for many reasons.

What does George Guidall bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Guidall has a wry, laconic style that fits the character very well. Longmire never takes himself seriously and Guidall is very good at voicing that part of Walt's personality. It is a great match of content, character and talent.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The denouement with the former sheriff, Lucian, and the current sheriff Walt and their unexpected visitor is a lovely moment handled well by both author and reader.

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Best of them all

There's only one thing wrong with this book. It is too short. I could have listened to this for weeks.

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This is a wonderful short.

I really enjoyed the tenderness. Also the dedication and heroism demonstrated is what I have come to expect from Longmire stories.

Well done!

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great story

not a mystery this time from Craig Johnson, but an excellent story, suspenseful, rich in character detail, and compelling as always. this is my favorite author right now. I can't get enough of his writing.

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Edge of your seat drama.

A heartfelt emotional story with great suspense and a thoughtful, philosophical thread running through it.

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More, please!

Another great tale, read superbly! The introduction of Martha while still alive is very satisfying. Time spent with Lucien is time well spent- an excellent short story.

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