Craig Johnson goes on his ninth trip to the rodeo with Walt Longmire in A Serpent's Tooth. Taking his title from a line in King Lear, Johnson sets Walt off in search of a "thankless child"--Sarah Tisdale--whose teenage son, Cord, has shown up in Durant, Wyo. Sarah left her home in Short Drop to join the Apostolic Church of the Lamb of God, a polygamous group that's set up a compound in Walt's home state.
An enormously large cult leader, a man claiming to be the 19th-century lawman Orrin Porter Rockwell and a deadly poet all cross Walt's path in his efforts to reunite Sarah and Cord. And when his search uncovers a high-priced weapons cache as well as a stolen drill bit worth three quarters of a million dollars, Walt's certain this is more than just a "lost boy" case.
While devoted fans of this series wouldn't dream of missing an installment, each book in the Walt Longmire series can easily be read and appreciated independently of the others; A Serpent's Tooth is no different. Johnson employs his trademark humor, many literary allusions, a cast readers can't help but love and Johnson's obvious love of the land he's writing about. Readers will experience the West in all its grandeur while Walt battles the evils trying to encroach upon his beloved county.
Blending the literary novel with the western and the mystery, Craig Johnson continues to deliver exceptional reads. He's not just staying on the bull for eight seconds, Johnson's winning the whole rodeo. --Jen Forbus of Jen's Book Thoughts