Name: Hell is Empty
ISBN: 9780143120988

Craig Johnson

Transporting a murderer only to learn that the man's crime falls under his jurisdiction and that the killer has escaped, Sheriff Longmire taps insights from Indian mysticism in a manhunt through the wilderness.

Hell is Empty

Walt Longmire faces an icy hell in this New York Times bestseller from the author of Land of Wolves Well-read and world-weary, Sheriff Walt Longmire has been maintaining order in Wyoming's Absaroka County for more than thirty years, but in this riveting seventh outing, he is pushed to his limits. Raynaud Shade, an adopted Crow Indian rumored to be one of the country's most dangerous sociopaths, has just confessed to murdering a boy ten years ago and burying him deep within the Bighorn Mountains. Walt is asked to transport Shade through a blizzard to the site, but what begins as a typical criminal transport turns personal when the veteran lawman learns that he knows the dead boy's family. Guided only by Indian mysticism and a battered paperback of Dante's Inferno, Walt braves the icy hell of the Cloud Peak Wilderness Area, cheating death to ensure that justice--both civil and spiritual--is served.

A Longmire Mystery

Hell Is Empty

Janice Hopper

That was a helluva ride.

Dangerous prisoners being transported. An escape. A crazy chase through the wilderness in a snow storm. A Magical Indian.

Craig Johnson can write pretty compelling stories. In the previous books I've read, he's been good at really nailing the endings. This one heated up about half-way through and never stopped. 

I listened to this in about 2 days.

ETA: I just saw a comment in a review and realized I'd missed something OBVIOUS in the book. I am so oblivious sometimes. It doesn't detract from the book, just AGAIN makes me realize that I am so literal-minded that I miss symbolism and analogies and stuff ALL THE TIME. Oh well...

Jackelyn

This is the first of the Longmire series that I didn't absolutely love. The story kinda feels like a fever dream, which does accomplish the right mood. The story follows Sheriff Longmire as he chases a group of escaped convicts up into the snowy Bighorn Mountains. You will find yourself questioning if he is dead or alive and if his whole journey is worth it. There is a good resolution but the story takes awhile to get there.

Content Warnings: No major warnings here.