It's high time I write about Mr. Box

There's really no point in denying it: I have waited far too long to write a blog about the intrepid author C.J. Box. (He's intrepid if I say he is!)

About a month ago, I picked up a copy of Nowhere To Run-Box's newest thriller about the Wyoming Game Warden Joe Pickett-and not 20 pages into the book was I hooked for good. The tenth novel in his "Joe Pickett Novel" series is easily the highest caliber of page turner. The "Joe Pickett" character is one that is at times all too human, very fallible, yet staunch in his constitution, heroic, and at times quick-witted. On Joe's last week of assignment as the temporary game warden in the small town of Baggs, Wyoming, he decides to investigate rumors of several strange things happening in the mountains: elk butchered, camps looted, tents slashed, etc. And all this just happens to be in the same area where a prospective Olympic runner went missing. What he ends up discovering is very real, and far worse than anyone could have guessed. Not only is his life on a razor's edge, but Joe Pickett stumbles upon multiple several-years-old secrets, with virtually no way out of any of it.

One of the numerous qualities that makes C.J. Box's novels so enjoyable is that right in the middle of all the suspense, action and intrigue, there underlies a deeper, more significant issue-whether it be moral, ethical, political, environmental, etc. Those issues are essentially the foundations upon which he builds each of his "Joe Pickett" adventures. I was not much of a thriller/mystery/modern western fan until I started reading C.J. Box's books, but now I can't put them down! And, in case you were wondering, I did start with Nowhere To Run as my first. That's another great quality his novels have: The series continuity isn't so heavy that you can't just pick up any one of them and dive right in. Now, I am reading Open Season-the first in his Joe Pickett series-and enjoying it.

On the first day of this month, we here at Old Firehouse Books had the privilege of meeting the renowned C.J. Box, and not only hearing him speak & read from his newest book, but also answer dozens of our questions. This, of course, just made me want to read the rest even more, and I would definitely recommend his books to anybody who likes any of the following: Thrillers, Mysteries, Westerns, Wyoming, Ranching, Game Wardens, Hunting, Outdoor Sporting, Wilderness, Survival, Politics, Environmental issues, and certainly many more things which I can't remember now.

Oh, and if I catch you without a C.J. Box book, it'll cost you 10 schillings and an amusing dance! (just kidding)
Well, until next time...