Dawn Newton host of KPOV's Open Air does great interviews and Craig Johnson is a very entertaining man.  Click the link to hear their interview.

http://www.kpov.org/images/stories/audio/craigjohnsonfinal.mp3

Craig’s new book is a real rip-snorter, the action starts early and doesn’t let up.  Hell is Empty, sure enough; all the devils are loose on a mountainside in Wyoming.  Walt Longmire doesn’t want stone cold killers in his jurisdiction, so he transports some seriously dangerous guys across his territory to turn over to the Feds. The hand off is set for a remote location, with ferociously bad weather coming in fast.  Something goes terribly wrong with no way to get help up the mountainside until the storm breaks.  The Heavens seem set against Walt, winds howl, snow swirls, it is not fit out for man nor beast.  With no way to get back up or help until the storm abates, Walt sets off alone after a pack of heavily armed evil men.  He just keeps climbing higher up that cold mountain where his very survival is in serious question, trying to recapture the bad guys before the body count rises. As he gains altitude he enters deeper into the circles of hell in pursuit of a man who just might take his life.

Craig Johnson wakes up every day to Wyoming’s wild untamed beauty.  His stories are full of the grandeur of the Wyoming landscape. Cold Dish starts the series, introducing the characters.  Sheriff Walt Longmire is a big guy, tough but fair.  He would rather use his wits than his fists. His deputy Vic hails from a family of street wise Philadelphia cops.  Her vocabulary would put a street tough to shame.. Henry Standing Bear is whip-smart, loyal, sensitive, and willing to put himself on the line for his friends.  The ladies love Henry.

Death Without Company, second in the series, has a mystery with ties to the past.  Kindness Goes Unpunished moves to Philadelphia where Walt’s daughter is an attorney.  Another Man’s Moccasins opens with a dead Vietnamese woman along a lonely stretch of highway. Her purse, holding a picture of Walt as a young Marine, is found among the possessions of Virgil White Buffalo. Dark Horse takes the story down the road at a breathless pace.  Mary had a gun in her hand and a confession on her lips the night her husband was shot. Junkyard Dogs has a great opening scene, it had me laughing.  How far would Ozzie go to get rid of George’s dump, the blight on the horizon of his pricey houses? Throw in a version of Romeo and Juliet for the older set, and you have a heady brew of mystery, greed and passion.

Walt Longmire is headed for the silver screen; Warner Horizon and A&E are shooting the pilot right now.  Chris Chulack is directing, Robert Taylor will play Walt Longmire, Lou Diamond Phillips will be Henry Standing Bear, and Katee Sackoff plays Vic. 

Craig Johnson’s heroes are John Steinbeck, Wallace Stegner and George MacDonald Fraser. You can see echoes of Steinbeck’s luminous use of landscape and his lively wit in Craig’s very distinctive style. He writes stories with intricate plots, beautiful prose, and compassion for his characters.  He is a born storyteller