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Tim's Reviews > The Western Star
The Western Star (Walt Longmire, #13)
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Ugh. Super disappointing.
I don't know how you justify writing a trans serial killer in 2017. As an old and hideous trope, I can think of no better way for an author to fly a flag that says "I am unoriginal, ignorant, and cruel." Did Craig Johnson feel jealous that JK Rowling's mystery series was getting too much attention for it's hateful turn? Is that why, after their reveal, he consistently misgendered his villain? Is that why he made up a completely bogus psychological diagnosis to "justify" their serial rampage?
Just to be clear, transphobia is not the only thing wrong with this book. I actually enjoyed the back-and-forth from past to present plots... until it turned out that they had very little to actually do with one another. I also enjoyed the flashback mystery plot about a conspiracy of sheriff vigilantes... until we got the bait-and-switch of motives, and the book rapidly dismissed those suspicious vigilante murders (including a literal lynching of a Black man) as irrelevant and we hear no more of them.
I admit I have never enjoyed the introduction of a recurring boogeyman who got away in a past book, and it now appears this title was designed for a cliffhanger to set up a sequel solely focused on that villain, in which Longmire will not even be in Wyoming. And speaking of that, I also did not enjoy Longmire's daughter Cady being turned into a plot football, nor the bafflingly contrived flashback use of Cady's mother as a revenge receptacle (which doubled as another bullshit "trans jealousy" vehicle).
So, yeah. What a despicable flop from an, until now, pretty enjoyable author.
I don't know how you justify writing a trans serial killer in 2017. As an old and hideous trope, I can think of no better way for an author to fly a flag that says "I am unoriginal, ignorant, and cruel." Did Craig Johnson feel jealous that JK Rowling's mystery series was getting too much attention for it's hateful turn? Is that why, after their reveal, he consistently misgendered his villain? Is that why he made up a completely bogus psychological diagnosis to "justify" their serial rampage?
Just to be clear, transphobia is not the only thing wrong with this book. I actually enjoyed the back-and-forth from past to present plots... until it turned out that they had very little to actually do with one another. I also enjoyed the flashback mystery plot about a conspiracy of sheriff vigilantes... until we got the bait-and-switch of motives, and the book rapidly dismissed those suspicious vigilante murders (including a literal lynching of a Black man) as irrelevant and we hear no more of them.
I admit I have never enjoyed the introduction of a recurring boogeyman who got away in a past book, and it now appears this title was designed for a cliffhanger to set up a sequel solely focused on that villain, in which Longmire will not even be in Wyoming. And speaking of that, I also did not enjoy Longmire's daughter Cady being turned into a plot football, nor the bafflingly contrived flashback use of Cady's mother as a revenge receptacle (which doubled as another bullshit "trans jealousy" vehicle).
So, yeah. What a despicable flop from an, until now, pretty enjoyable author.
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