Onyx reviews: Depth of Winter by Craig Johnson

Reviewed by Bev Vincent, 07/14/2018

When readers reach the point in the book where Absaroka County Sheriff Walt Longmire is facing a long trek across an unforgiving desert, they will probably be thinking that the title of Johnson's latest novel is meant to be ironic. Longmire is far from Wyoming, where he once experienced a similarly arduous trek through a mountainous, wintry landscape. However, Johnson loves literary references, and a little research turns up a quote from Albert Camus that he probably used as inspiration: "In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer."

Longmire's previous adventure, detailed in The Western Star, ended with a cliffhanger: his daughter Cady was kidnapped by Mexican poet Tomás Bidarte, a villain introduced in A Serpent's Tooth, who possibly murdered Cady's husband and who is determined to punish Longmire for having the temerity to stand up to him. Longmire receives a postcard depicting a location in Mexico with the single word "Come" written on it. Bidarte knows Longmire would move earth and heaven to save his daughter.

American and Mexican authorities are reluctant to have him carry out a one-man rescue operation, so he assembles a rag-tag group of helpers to get him across the border from El Paso to Juárez and onward to the Chihuahuan village where Bidarte is holding Cady. This group includes a gun dealer and border-crossing expert named José "Buck" Guzmàn, a blind legless prophet known as the Seer, whose condition is the result of thalidomide, and his nephew/driver Alonzo. He crosses the border with a bag of weapons that, if he were to be caught with them, could send him to prison for a decade or longer.

It takes Longmire some time to make his way to Estante del Diablo (Shelf of the Devil), a remote mountain village near an old sulfur mine run by a drug cartel where Bidarte holds sway, but the setup is necessary to put pieces into play that will become crucial later on in the novel. None of what Johnson introduces in the opening sections is frivolous. The task Longmire has set for himself is not one to be taken lightly. Even the Mexican authorities are afraid to venture into the territory where he must go.

The main problem is that Bidarte is expecting Longmire. The two enemies understand each other at a basic level, and Bidarte knows that Longmire will accept his terse invitation. So Longmire needs to build a small, well-armed team and try to infiltrate the village without being detected, no mean feat for a tall and obvious gringo. His other disadvantage is his age: he's not as young and spry as he once was, and the impending mission will tax him to his very limits.

Because of its location, and because Longmire is going rogue, familiar characters from the previous thirteen novels do not figure greatly in the story. There are cameo appearances from his under-sheriff and lover Vic Moretti and his friend Henry. Even his daughter Cady, the object of his mission, doesn't appear in many pages of the novel. Instead, readers are treated to a band of new and colorful characters like Isidro, the mute guide who is also a deadly sniper, a doctor and former member of Mexico's version of the CIA named Adan Martínez and his resourceful sister Bianca, known as the Bruja de la Piel—the Skin Witch.

As deadly as Bidarte has been in the past, the real villain of the piece is his relentless lieutenant, David Culpepper, possibly the man who actually kidnapped Cady. A number of times, Longmire passes on chances to take Culpepper off the board permanently. His moral code prevents him from simply killing a man, though he will come to regret this choice more than once.

As perilous as Longmire's adventure is, Johnson makes way for a dose of humor. Much of Longmire's journey takes place in a 1959 pink Cadillac convertible. When he is on the verge of being taken into custody by the Policía Federal, the Seer comes up with an audacious plan: pretend the sheriff is actually a former NFL star known as "Mr. Cowboy" and have him sign autographs for his fans.

But, at the end of a long and very hot few days, this is more of a Hail Mary than a rescue mission. Longmire's odds of surviving unscathed are long and narrow. His opponent is ruthless, and absolutely no one he encounters south of the border can be completely trusted, even those who appear to be allies. A gripping adventure with Longmire far from his comfort zone.