My favorite books of the West…the gateway to discovering a great new thriller series

This early installment of Craig Johnson’s venerable Walt Longmire series explores Walt’s roots, both personal and professional, and begins to describe the Wyoming landscape he inhabits, and the cultures—both contemporary western and Native American—that shape the people who live there. 

Craig Johnson masterfully builds upon both Longmire’s strengths and internal struggles to create a character that resonates with real-life pathos and relatability. The challenges that face him are shaded by the world around him, the expectations of the townsfolk who rely on him, and the slowly disappearing ways of the old west. 

The scenery is as much a character as the human players, and the dialogue and well-wrought language of the author brings a welcome clarity to a fabulous page-turner that will have you returning to the bookstore for more Walt Longmire.

This Pulitzer Prize winner was one of the first Western epics I ever read, and I was gripped from the first paragraph.

There is a reason this won the world’s top literary prize, and Larry McMurtry uses his considerable skill and makes it look easy. 

An epic telling of a cattle drive, and the women and men to make the trek, the narrative is both sprawling in its scope, and intimate in its understanding of its characters. Nothing here is overwrought or predictable, no cardboard-cut-out characters or cheesy dialogue.

Every scene feels like it is unfolding before your eyes, the reader as a stakeholder in the story, caring deeply about the fates of this magnificent cast of characters.

Some may find its sheer size daunting, running at 700 pages or thereabouts, but set those reservations aside and take courage—you will not be disappointed, nor will you find yourself doubting yourself or the book’s epic nature, and the author’s ability to hold you rapt on every page.

While more manageable in size, this novel hits on every cylinder.

Spectacular insights into the Old West and the New are told with language that somehow manages to be both elegant and gritty at the same time. 

Sometimes the scene descriptions are rendered sparely, other times with a nearly poetic hand, but at all times create a durable and memorable backdrop for the drama.

If you are a writer, this is a book you’ll want to read more than once or twice, just as you will likely find yourself re-reading entire paragraphs just to experience the language for a second time.

This book was a significant catalyst in my career, and proved foundational in my pursuing the crafting of a new contemporary western thriller series of my own. 

There is a reason Cormac McCarthy is considered a modern treasure, and this book is one of his most (in my opinion) underrated gems.

I will admit that Sam Shepard is one of my literary idols.

He is one of a very few with an equal facility and skill in developing characters, and in illuminating cogent insights as to human nature and its flaws.

Like many of his books, this is a collection of short stories, vignettes, character sketches, and travelogue—and the variety of voices he uses in crafting each piece is a minor miracle in itself. 

Here again, if you’re a writer, you can take a masters class on Sam Shepard by starting with this volume. You’ll find some stories so lean and seemingly insubstantial that it takes a while for it to sink in…

Other sketches are so powerful in their honesty, you feel as though you might be intruding on the author’s most private thoughts. 

This is a book you’ll want to take down from the shelf and consume in small installments. It’s just that good.