Too often
I would hear men boast of the miles covered that day, rarely of what they had
seen.—Louis L ’Amour
Usually, we open with
a quote from the volume we are examining, but this L ‘Amour quote qualifies as it
is the epigraph used by Mr. Johnson himself to open this anthology of
short-stories.
To my mind, it sums up
the strengths of this very talented craftsman.
He has an eye for
people, places, and small acts that tell a character.
These strengths are in
fine form here but…
And keep in mind, this
is likely only for this reader, I have an impatience with crime stories these
days. Between decades of having read primarily crime novels and where seemingly
every other television show is a variation on Law & Order, the
tropes of a crime story must be stuck to apparently, in most cases so closely
there is little room for surprise or legroom for wider expanses of story.
In the case of Mr.
Johnson, I find it a shame as his skill is extraordinary, so much so that I hate
to see it run in the ruts of, “Now let’s figure out which meth addict held
up the diner.”
The Longmire series is
popular, and justly so, and I wager my quibble will do nothing to lower that estimation
for fans [nor should it.]
It is just the observation
of a man who would love to see this author really stretch his legs and surprise
from top-to-bottom without having to provide a compulsory “Aha!” denouement.
In the spirit of the
quote, he has clearly seen much, I would love to read more about sights I’ve
not seen.
