Ronald A. (rarendt) reviewed on 6/24/2014 + 107 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 2

C J Box normally writes about the adventures of Joe Pickett, a Wyoming game warden, but occasionally produces a stand-alone book for a change of pace, and this is one.

The book has a devilishly fiendish plot involving the protagonist and his wife, who are being threatened with the loss of their adopted daughter because the child's biological father never signed the adoption papers. To make matters worse, the biological father appears to have a lot of behavioral problems, and his father, the baby's physical grandfather, is an extremely powerful and well-connected federal judge, who "just to be a fair" gives the adoptive parents three weeks to prepare to give up the child they have grown to love - almost sounds like one of those Jodi Picoult novels my wife used to read.

This book however diverges widely from any sort of women's issue novel as the protagonist, with the help of one of his best friends (a rogue cop) starts trying to find ways, legal or otherwise to avoid the inevitable. The author does a good job writing a very suspenseful book, although occasionally he does go a little over the top and there is quite a bit of violence, which in reality is occasionally a little cartoonish. Lots of people get shot, and none of our heroes ever seem to miss.

Having spent over twenty years in the military, and being a handgun collector and shooter, I know it isn't really that easy, especially when, like our hero, you have hardly ever fired a pistol before, and never in anger.

Even with a certain amount of unrealistic violence, and several major legal holes in the plot involving some of our hero's actions, the book still rates four stars for originality and suspense; it's one I won't forget soon.

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