Synopses & Reviews
From C. J. Box, the New York Times-bestselling author of the Joe Pickett novels, comes a thrilling book of suspense stories about the Wyoming he knows so welland the dark deeds and impulses that can be found there.
Over the course of eighteen books, C. J. Box has been consistently hailed for his brilliant storytelling and extraordinary skills at creating character, suspense, and a deep sense of place. All of those strengths are in the ten riveting storiesthree of them never before publishedthat make up Shots Fired.
In One-Car Bridge,” one of four Joe Pickett stories, Pickett goes up against a just plain mean” landowner, with disastrous results, and in Shots Fired,” his investigation into the radio call referred to in the title nearly ends up being the last thing he ever does. In Pirates of Yellowstone,” two Eastern European tough guys find out what it means to be strangers in a strange land, and in Le Sauvage Noble,” the stranger is a Lakota in Paris who enjoys playing the noble savage” for the French womenuntil he meets Sophie. Then he discovers what savage” really means.
Shots Fired is proof once again why Box is a force to be reckoned with” (The Providence Journal-Bulletin).
Review
“A great storyteller.”—Tony Hillerman
“A great crime novel.”—Lee Child
“A MUSCULAR FIRST NOVEL…Box writes as straight as his characters shoot, and he has a stand-up hero to shoulder his passionate concerns about endangered lives and liberties.” —The New York Times Book Review
“SUPERB…Without resorting to simplistic blacks and whites, Box fuses ecological themes, vibrant descriptions of Wyomings wonders and peculiarities, and fully fleshed characters into a debut of riveting tensions.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Boxs book has it all—suspenseful plot, magnificent scenery and a flawed male hero who is tough but truly connected to his family… PROFOUNDLY MEMORABLE.” —The Boston Herald
“A HIGH-COUNTRY PRESUMED INNOCENT that moves like greased lightning.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Review
Praise for Breaking Point
“An exceptionally well-told story that will entertain, thrill, and maybe even outrage its readers.” —USA Today
“An explosive thriller that careens from one unpredictable twist to another.” —South Florida Sun Sentinel
“Superlative. The best installment yet in an already rich series.” —Cleveland Plain Dealer
Review
Praise for STONE COLD
“[A] superlative outing . . . Box gets everything right: believably real characters, a vivid setting, clear prose and ratcheting tension. Maintaining these standards over 14 novels is more than impressive.”—The Plain Dealer
“Stone Cold features carefully crafted characters who live in the wilds of Wyoming, a setting that Box uses to great effect . . . Box creates a story with an unique premise and takes readers along for a suspenseful, action-filled ride.”—The Denver Post
“Box weaves vivid descriptions of Wyomings landscape and the personal drama of Picketts family into a blistering page-turner.”—Arizona Republic
“In C.J. Box's thrillers, [Wyoming] is a featured character and you get to know its thickly forested mountains, its windy plains and its frontierlike towns . . . [a] fun read.”—Associated Press
“Another exciting read from crime fictions king of the great outdoors.”—Madison County Herald
“The author has proven that he can write good -- no, great - books.”—Wyoming Eagle Tribune
“With each book, Box just gets better. Nonstop action, a twisty plot, and great characters make his latest a must-read for fans of this series.”—Library Journal
“This marks a welcome return to the thing Box does best: putting family man Joe in a dicey situation where, despite his orders to merely observe, his own moral code means he cant help but light the fuse and see where it leads. Being in unfamiliar territory is familiar territory for Pickett, and corrupt-town scenarios are as old as the hills, but Box uses the ploys for maximum suspense.”—Booklist
“Exhilarating . . . Canny Joe uses his wits, taking time to assess the literal and figurative lay of the land.”—Publishers Weekly
Review
and#8220;An excellent anthologyand#8230;One of Americaand#8217;s best crime novelists.and#8221; and#8212;
Lansing State Journal and#8220;Nonstop adventure and mystery are omnipresent with unexpected twists and turns that will leave readers begging for more.and#8221;and#8212;Library Journal (starred review)
and#8220;Box [proves] that heand#8217;s also adept at the short form.and#8221;and#8212;Publishers Weekly
and#8220;If youand#8217;re looking for rising tension played out against spectacular natural scenery, nobody does it better.and#8221;and#8212;Kirkus Reviews
Review
Praise for Endangered
“Is there a crime-fiction family as fully fleshed out as Joe Picketts? ...Picketts supporting cast—wife Marybeth and daughters Sheridan, Lucy, and April—lends a continuity and grounding to this series that sets it apart from all the lone-wolf stuff out there.”—Booklist
“All the action and suspense of Box's long string of high-country adventures.... One of Joe's best.”—Kirkus Review
Praise for Stone Cold
“[A] superlative outing . . . Box gets everything right: believably real characters, a vivid setting, clear prose and ratcheting tension. Maintaining these standards over 14 novels is more than impressive.”—The Plain Dealer
“Stone Cold features carefully crafted characters who live in the wilds of Wyoming, a setting that Box uses to great effect . . . Box creates a story with an unique premise and takes readers along for a suspenseful, action-filled ride.”—The Denver Post
“Box weaves vivid descriptions of Wyomings landscape and the personal drama of Picketts family into a blistering page-turner.”—Arizona Republic
“In C.J. Box's thrillers, [Wyoming] is a featured character and you get to know its thickly forested mountains, its windy plains and its frontierlike towns . . . [a] fun read.”—Associated Press
“Another exciting read from crime fictions king of the great outdoors.”—Madison County Herald
“The author has proven that he can write good -- no, great - books.”—Wyoming Eagle Tribune
“With each book, Box just gets better. Nonstop action, a twisty plot, and great characters make his latest a must-read for fans of this series.”—Library Journal
“This marks a welcome return to the thing Box does best: putting family man Joe in a dicey situation where, despite his orders to merely observe, his own moral code means he cant help but light the fuse and see where it leads. Being in unfamiliar territory is familiar territory for Pickett, and corrupt-town scenarios are as old as the hills, but Box uses the ploys for maximum suspense.”—Booklist
“Exhilarating . . . Canny Joe uses his wits, taking time to assess the literal and figurative lay of the land.”—Publishers Weekly
Synopsis
It's Joe Pickett's last week as a temporary game warden in the mountain town of Baggs, Wyoming, but his conscience won't let him leave without checking out the strange reports coming from the wilderness: camps looted, tents slashed, elk butchered. What awaits him is like something out of an old campfire tale, except this story is all too real-and all too deadly.
Synopsis
When a high-powered rifle bullet hits living flesh, it makes a distinctivepow-WHOPsound that is unmistakable even at tremendous distance.” And so it begins for Joe Pickett, a Wyoming game warden who, with the shot of a rifle, is thrust into a race to save not only an endangered species, but to unravel a mystery that threatens the life and the family he loves
Synopsis
When a high-powered rifle bullet hits living flesh, it makes a distinctivepow-WHOPsound that is unmistakable even at tremendous distance.” And so it begins for Joe Pickett, a Wyoming game warden who, with the shot of a rifle, is thrust into a race to save not only an endangered species, but to unravel a mystery that threatens the life and the family he loves
Synopsis
The electrifying new Joe Pickett novel from the New York Timesbestselling author.
Everything about the man is a mystery: the massive ranch in the remote Black Hills of Wyoming that nobody ever visits, the women who live with him, the secret philanthropies, the private airstrip, the sudden disappearances. And especially the persistent rumors that the mans wealth comes from killing people.
Joe Pickett, still officially a game warden but now mostly a troubleshooter for the governor, is assigned to find out what the truth is, but he discovers a lot more than hed bargained for. There are two other men living up at that ranch. One is a stone-cold killer who takes an instant dislike to Joe. The other is newbut Joe knows him all too well. The first man doesnt frighten Joe. The second is another story entirely.
Synopsis
New York Timesbestselling writer C. J. Box returns with a thrilling new novel, featuring Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett.
She was gone. Joe Pickett had good reason to dislike Dallas Cates, even if he was a rodeo champion, and now he has even moreJoes eighteen-year-old ward, April, has run off with him.
And then comes even worse news: The body of a girl has been found in a ditch along the highwayalive, but just barely, the victim of blunt force trauma. It is April, and the doctors arent sure if shell recover. Cates denies having anything to do with itsays she ran away from him, tooand theres evidence that points to another man. But Joe knows in his gut whos responsible. What he doesnt know is the kind of danger hes about to encounter. Cates is bad enough, but Catess family is like none Joe has ever met before.
Joes going to find out the truth, even if it kills him. But this time, it just might.
Synopsis
The electrifying new Joe Pickett novel from the New York Timesbestselling author.
Everything about the man is a mystery: the massive ranch in the remote Black Hills of Wyoming that nobody ever visits, the women who live with him, the secret philanthropies, the private airstrip, the sudden disappearances. And especially the persistent rumors that the mans wealth comes from killing people.
Joe Pickett, still officially a game warden but now mostly a troubleshooter for the governor, is assigned to find out what the truth is, but he discovers a lot more than hed bargained for. There are two other men living up at that ranch. One is a stone-cold killer who takes an instant dislike to Joe. The other is newbut Joe knows him all too well. The first man doesnt frighten Joe. The second is another story entirely.
About the Author
C. J. Box is the author of fourteen Joe Pickett novels including Breaking Point, Force of Nature, and Cold Wind. He has won the Anthony, Macavity, Gumshoe and Barry awards, as well as the French Prix Calibre .38, and has been an Edgar Award and Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist, all for the Pickett novels. He has also won the Edgar Award for best novel for his first stand-alone, Blue Heaven. A Wyoming native, Box has worked on a ranch and as a small-town newspaper reporter and editor, and lives outside Cheyenne with his family. His books have been translated into twenty-five languages.