A Serpent's Tooth

Publisher's Summary

In this ninth installment in the award-winning and New York Times best-selling Walt Longmire mystery series, the Wyoming sheriff follows his cowboy code of ethics in a religious range war that strikes a little too close to home.

©2013 Craig Johnson (P)2013 Recorded Books

I Rarely Find Books Deserving of Five Stars

...but this is it. I read this book because, as a fan of this series, I have eagerly awaited the release of this newest book ever since I finished reading the other eight a few months ago.

Walt Longmire is an incredibly likable character. He is humble, brave, self-deprecating, sensible, and fallible, all while managing to be a salt-of-the-earth kind of charming. The supporting characters draw the reader in even further, each with his or her well-developed role, strengths, and flaws. The culture of Wyoming and the American West gives great flavor and lets this be a learning experience (I'm an east-coaster) at the same time.

And then there is the story. Twists, turns, action, romance, mystery, balanced with well-written dialogue and the sturdy cast of characters -- it's a page-turner that will make you laugh, cry, and cling to the edge of your seat.

If that weren't enough, let's layer on the fantastic narrator, who does an incredible job of bringing the characters and the emotion and pace of the story to life. It is truly incredible how remarkably consistent he is with the different voices.

My commute is my only audiobook time, so I listen in fits and starts and sometimes zone out for a bit. With this book, I found myself rewinding every time I started up again or found myself zoning out. I tried to savor every word because I just did not want it to end. (I won't spoil it with details -- but it ends with a kick.)

Even if you haven't read the other books in the series, you could start here. If you don't love this book, I wouldn't bother reading more of them -- but if you do love it, you are in for a treat. There are eight more!!

39 of 41 people found this review helpful

Craig Johnson's best!

I have never listened to a novel for the second time just after hearing it. I did with "A Serpent's Tooth". There are many reasons I like this new Walt Longmire book; here are five of them:
1. Sheriff Walt, his under-Sheriff,Vic Moretto, and his close friend, Henry are back in full force
2. The plot has numerous unexpected twists and turns with quite a surprise ending.
3. Johnson's wit is abundant.
4. The novel begins with the Sheriff's patient conversation with a charming old lady talking about angels who fix up her house and visit her daily and grows into a complex story that involves corrupt corporations, a polygamy-practicing fundamentalist Mormon sect, an old man who believes he is a 200 year old historical figure, Mexican oil criminals and murder too close to work.
5. Finally, George Guidall is superb .

58 of 62 people found this review helpful

A Wonderful Introduction to Walt Longmire!

After a few disappointments, I had become wary of trying new (to me) authors and series. However, when I saw "A Serpent's Tooth" on sale as the daily deal, I decided to give it a try and see if I agreed with all those wonderful reviews of Walt Longmire I had seen on Audible. I do agree with those reviews -- from the very beginning of the first chapter, I was intrigued by the characters, both major and minor, contained in the story. From County Sheriff Walt Longmire and his under-Sheriff Vic(toria) Moretti, his friend Henry Standing Bear (also known as "the Cherokee Nation") to a sweet little old lady who says angels come to her house and make needed home repairs and another woman who runs the general mercantile in Short Drop, WY, Craig Johnson's characters are three dimensional and very human, with quirks and wit galore.

In addition to wonderful characters, the plot is great. Starting with the appearance of a "lost boy" from a polygamous fundamentalist Mormon sect that has set up a compound (make that a fortress) on 12,000 acres of land in Walt's county, and developing into the murder of one of Walt's Deputies and attempted murder of another, the story line carries you along right to the final battle without ever letting your interest flag.

George Guidall's narration puts the finishing touch on a perfect package. His voice, with a natually deep timbre, brings Walt to brilliant life as a native Westerner, and then softens just enough to provide truly believable female voices. And his delivery of quirky or witty pronouncements is perfect.

All in all, this book was a wonderful experience. Now I will go back and begin the series with Book 1 so that I can experience this series with all the backstory from one book to the next. Highly recommended.

9 of 9 people found this review helpful

Walt is awesome

Any additional comments?

George Guidall is Walt Longmire. This is classic Longmire, with the characters you really like, some sad losses, a win you've hoped for, great historical research, interesting side characters and really bad bad guys. The only downside is that if you've never read a Longmire novel, don't start here. There's an arc and you really need to read them in order.

28 of 31 people found this review helpful

Wonderful Walt and the Gang!

Love these books!  The dry humor is laugh out loud funny and the stories are always captivating and original. 

In this ninth addition to the series, two separate stories run parallel, the first of which has to do with a Mormon Ranch that is being run more like an occult.  The second surrounds a smooth talking stranger that is supposedly drilling a well on the ranch.   Walt knows that there is something sneaky going on, so when he gets two seperate reports of missing persons, and one very "odd" report of a home repairing Angel, he and the gang are off to the races in an exciting, fast paced investigation.

Many great developed sideline characters and of course the unequalled main cast.  Never a disappointment with any of Craig Johnson's, Longmire series. As always Guidalls narration is perfect and it just would not be as good without him.  Highly recommend.

13 of 15 people found this review helpful

Nice spending time with Walt

This Wyoming sheriff’s tale involves a “lost boy” from a fundamentalist Mormon group, an old man building space ships in his backyard for the Rapture, oil drilling and a few CIA agents. At this point in the series, I simply enjoy spending time with the characters and with Johnson’s wonderful writing. The ending felt like a 1980s Schwarzenegger movie. Grade: B+

Perfect narration.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

No Real surprises, No real disappointments.

I started Craig Johnson's books right at the beginning. I enjoyed them so much. Now nine books into the series, I wonder if it is being driven by the television productions. I think George Guidall helps to carry the story along. He is such an excellent narrator. I am beginning to feel the familiarity of an over the top, almost superhuman heroic scene. It is hard to picture Walt as Robert Taylor, and even harder to picture "the Cheyene Nation" as Lou Diamond Phillips once one has listened to George Guidall. Nit picking aside. I think you won't be disappointed if you have enjoyed the other books. They all seem to have a similar rhythm, no real surprises, no real disappointments.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

I confess...

...I'm a little bit in love with Walt Longmire. I just want to make this clear up front.

The Serpent's Tooth is the latest (9th) in the Longmire series and it is excellent. I really enjoy Johnson's imagination and his wry sense of humor and he is a skilled storyteller. He also does a wonderful job of presenting both characters and places so that the reader feels "present" for both. Sheriff Walt Longmire is, of course, the heart of the story which has Walt trying to deal with a fundamentalist Mormon cult which has invaded his county and is causing a variety of serious difficulties. Johnson has written a great plot in this one.

The story begins with Walt in an interview with an old woman who has angels in her house and ends with a hard tug at the readers heart, but in between Johnson pulls in murder and mayhem, love and loss and laughter and the usual cast of Craig Johnson's brilliant characters and ties them together with "can't stop reading" intensity. It may be my favorite of this series so far.

George Guidall does an outstanding job of narration giving depth and individuality to each character. Even when I am reading a Longmire book (rather than listening) I can still "hear" Walt, Henry, Vic, Double-tough and all the other characters of Absaroka County, Wyoming in Guidall's voices.

You don't need to have read any of the others in the series to enjoy this book (although you may be briefly confused when Walt refers to other characters by odd nicknames such as referring to his best friend Henry as "The Cheyenne Nation.") You will also not understand what he's talking about when he refers to events from previous books, but I don't think that will hinder your enjoyment. And if you like this novel, you're lucky, because there are eight more and I predict you'll be anxious to start at the beginning.

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

I'm hooked

The Longmire book series just keep getting better; makes me want to visit Wyoming and ride a horse.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

One of the GREATEST in the series!

What made the experience of listening to A Serpent's Tooth the most enjoyable?

The beginning had great humor. I loved Vic, Walt's Under-Sheriff. The action in the middle. But the ending was unexpected and cannot wait for the next book. So Mr. Johnson keep writing.

What other book might you compare A Serpent's Tooth to and why?

The Rembrant by Daniel Silva. The same romance, humor and action along with unexpected ending.

What about George Guidall’s performance did you like?

Oh he bring Walt Longmire to life. He makes you wish you could be right along with Walt.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

Loved the series and I hope Craig Johnson and George Guidall keep the books comming.

5 of 6 people found this review helpful