Helpful Score: 4
I absolutely love this series, it's very different from anything else I've read. If you like Wyoming and Montana, both beautiful states, you will like this series.
Helpful Score: 3
#2 Joe Pickett mystery. Joe, a game warden in the Bighorn mountains in Wyoming, is on scene when an exploding cow kills famed eco-terrorist Stewie Woods. It's assumed by the Sheriff that Woods was rigging the explosive himself in one of his infamous protests against ranchers, and died in a case of instant karma, but why is the owner of the ranch, a powerful man with friends in high places, not surprised or even curious about the incident?
Joe aims to nail him for poaching a trophy bull elk out of season, but ends up getting sucked back into investigating Stewie Woods' death (and NOT at the invitation of the Sheriff!) when several other noted eco-terrorists end up dead in other freakish accidents. Things get even more complicated when someone proclaiming that he's Stewie Woods keeps calling Joe's house and talking to his wife Marybeth--and he learns that Marybeth and Stewie were high school sweethearts.
Enjoyable enough read, but there is just something missing. Not sure what it is--I am not fully engaged with the main character I don't think, there didn't seem to be much in the way of character development since book one, and there also seemed to be a whole string of really improbable things happening and weird coincidences such that it was just outside the realm of being believable. I like the author's writing style and the sense of place is awesome too. I just hope Joe becomes more "real" to me as the series goes on. Hopefully this was just the old 'sophomore slump.'
Joe aims to nail him for poaching a trophy bull elk out of season, but ends up getting sucked back into investigating Stewie Woods' death (and NOT at the invitation of the Sheriff!) when several other noted eco-terrorists end up dead in other freakish accidents. Things get even more complicated when someone proclaiming that he's Stewie Woods keeps calling Joe's house and talking to his wife Marybeth--and he learns that Marybeth and Stewie were high school sweethearts.
Enjoyable enough read, but there is just something missing. Not sure what it is--I am not fully engaged with the main character I don't think, there didn't seem to be much in the way of character development since book one, and there also seemed to be a whole string of really improbable things happening and weird coincidences such that it was just outside the realm of being believable. I like the author's writing style and the sense of place is awesome too. I just hope Joe becomes more "real" to me as the series goes on. Hopefully this was just the old 'sophomore slump.'
Helpful Score: 2
This started the whole Joe Pickett Saga. I couldn't put the book down and I have read all of his books.
Helpful Score: 1
I loved it. I wish more people knew about Box's fiction. I guess that the hunting/macho thing would turn off some readers, but I find it more engrossing than a lot of the occupations and side-stories that other detective books include.
Helpful Score: 1
While I like reading about good-guy Joe Pickett and the gorgeous Wyoming landscape, this story was too gory. Still I'm looking forward to Bk 3.
This sophomore effort from Box (whose first novel "Open Season" was great) finds an ecoterrorist named Stewie Woods blown to bits by an exploding cow. Yes, really. While local politicians are eager to close the case and chalk it up to a publicity stunt gone horribly wrong, Pickett smells a conspiracy--especially after his wife, Marybeth, begins receving phone calls from someone named Stewie.
Box handles both sides of the ecoterrorism debate well. I understand wanting to preserve lands for the benefit of wildlife, but I certainly don't pretend to understand harming other humans because they might get in the way of an elk. Then again, I live in Florida and the last wildlife I had the pleasure of seeing was an iguana sunning itself beside my pool.
The more I read, the more Joe Pickett reminds me of another straight-arrow law enforcement character from television: RCMP Constable Benton Fraser (Paul Gross) from "Due South." Pickett will always do the right thing even when he doesn't really want to. That is what makes me come back again and again to this series.
Box handles both sides of the ecoterrorism debate well. I understand wanting to preserve lands for the benefit of wildlife, but I certainly don't pretend to understand harming other humans because they might get in the way of an elk. Then again, I live in Florida and the last wildlife I had the pleasure of seeing was an iguana sunning itself beside my pool.
The more I read, the more Joe Pickett reminds me of another straight-arrow law enforcement character from television: RCMP Constable Benton Fraser (Paul Gross) from "Due South." Pickett will always do the right thing even when he doesn't really want to. That is what makes me come back again and again to this series.
I am really enjoying CJ Box's Joe Pickett series. Although I have been reading them out of order, they stand alone nicely.
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
Excellent series
as I was reading my thoughts went to the fact that it reads more like a range war and I guess in a way it is. Joe seems to get caught in the middle.
This is the second in the Joe Pickett series. It continues the excellence found in the first novel.
A definite change of pace hero. Enjoyable reading.
Another great entry in the Joe Pickett series by Box. This one involves a deadly war between environmentalists and the Stockmen's Trust, a group of ranchers fighting to protect the old ways of the west including ranching, logging, etc. The book starts out with a bang when a cow explodes and supposedly kills the head of an environmental group and his wife. Joe Pickett, a Wyoming game warden, gets involved and comes up against members of the Trust including some hired killers (supposed stock detectives like the notorious Tom Horn) going after environmentalists, their lawyers, and a congressman who backs their ideals. This one was non-stop action and was really enjoyable. It is second in the Pickett series after Open Season which I also enjoyed. Another high recommendation and I'll be looking forward to more in the series.
Joe Pickett is a game warden near Saddlestring Wyoming. Stewie Woods and his bride, Annabel Belotti, are killed by an exploding cow. Other environmental activists are also killed and Joe is left to figure out the good guys from the bad. I loved all the descriptions of Wyomingâs wilderness, weather and geography. Iâm looking forward to reading the 3rd book and would recommend this series to those who love the great outdoors!
This is a new series for me. The first book is good, but this second book is great. A much more interesting cast of good and bad guys, hard to tell the difference sometimes, but the main character, Joe Pickett is always a good guy. The chase by the bad guys is never predictable and the fate of all is a big surprise. Also includes interesting discussion of environmental issues of the Rockie Mountains. I give this one 4.5 stars.
good
When a massive explosion occurs deep within the forests of Twelve Sleep County and a colorful environmental activist appears to have perished in the blast, Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett is called in to help investigate. The case is wrapped up quickly, explained as an environmental publicity stunt gone wrong, but Joe isn't convinced. He soon discovers clues that suggest a deadly conspiracy-one that will test his courage, his survival skills, and his determination to "do the right thing" despite all costs.
This is the second book in order and the second in the Joe Pickett series. Joe Pickett is a relatively new game warden in Wyoming, with a wife and 3 little girls. With the back drop of the Bighorn mountains, and with all the hunters in Wyoming, Joe has a busy and important job. I am fast becoming a huge fan of CJ Box, as I love the whole concept, its a great change of pace in my reading corner. It probably does help that I am a fan of the outdoors (hunting, fishing, wildlife, and the environment)! Still the way Box writes it really pulls you into the story, and then keeps the pace going, picking up speed till the very end. This book is a kind of bizarre story with an environmental terrorist Stewie and his new wife getting blown up by a bomb attached to a cow. Ok now if that don't catch your curiosity nothing will!! I did have a problem with some of the super human feats that Stewie performed during the book-not quite believable for me. I won't add any spoilers, because if I told you what they were it would give some of the book away, but I will let you decide for yourself if you choose to read it. If not for that fact I would have easily given the book a 5, because I liked everything else about the book! I can say it won't keep me from going on to the next book in the series, as I am hooked on this new found author, and now have him locked in on my rotation of authors that I read! See for yourself why he has made it to the NY Times bestselling list.
Second in the Joe Pickett series and just as exciting as the first. I spend a lot of time in these books tense with anticipation, because Joe is naive, accident prone, and kind of inept. But he has determination and an iron will, and he'll keep going no matter what. Box does great descriptions of the country and there's a lot of action; the trip into Savage Run seems very vivid to me. In this book the POV switches to the killers in alternate chapters (seems like every series I'm currently reading does this, no doubt just a coincidence but I'm getting bored with it).
One of the things I like about the series is that Box shows a little of each side of the environmental debate.
One of the things I like about the series is that Box shows a little of each side of the environmental debate.
good story;
