Joe Pickett's pursuit of a killer through the rugged mountains of Wyoming takes a horrifying turn when his beloved foster daughter is kidnapped. Now it's personal.
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Product Details
Author:
C. J. Box
Paperback:
352 pages
Publisher:
Berkley
Publication Date:
June 29, 2004
Language:
English
ISBN:
0425195953
Package Length:
6.6 inches
Package Width:
4.2 inches
Package Height:
1.0 inches
Package Weight:
0.3 pounds
Average Customer Rating:
based on 32 reviews
Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review: Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
AWESOME! Oct 21, 2008 Product arrived quickly and in better condition than stated. Very Pleased with purchase. Highly recommend seller. Thank You.
0 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Grim and Full of Animal Cruelty Jul 31, 2008 This is the first C.J. Box novel I have started to read (threw it away after p.59) and it will be the very last that I buy. The writing was poor, there was no plausible story line and the author resorted to grim and gory animal cruelty. Don't waste your money on this book!
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Another good read by Box Oct 15, 2005 I started the Picket novels on recommendation from Amazon after buying the Alex McNight series by Steve Hamilton. Both book series are easy reads that will draw you in before you know it. They are slightly incredible in storyline over the series (as are most series books -after all, how many exciting things can happen to the same person over and over), but still enjoyable. Not as complex as someone like Ludlum, but very enjoyable for a tired mind after a busy week of work.
If you like these, try The McNight books by Steve Hamilton.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Good Book for a Snowy Day Jun 08, 2005 And plenty of snow there is, adding proper atmosphere to a brooding mystery. Good character development, plausible (most of the time) plot lines, some weird characters, painted so as to generate maximum hatred or respect. When the lady from the Forest Service first appears, you almost can hear readers hissing all across America. When the sheriff gets snide with Pickett, you want to relish what you hope will be his humiliation before the book ends. Scenes at the snowed-in Pickett household are poignant in light of future plot turns. A good page turner, with nicely done descriptions of the Big Horn Mountain area of almost-mystical Wyoming. May you write long and well, C.J. Box.
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
Things get personal Feb 24, 2005 The third Joe Pickett mystery once again finds trouble brewing in the wilds of Wyoming, but this time there is an added obstacle to maintaining peace and tranquility in this beautiful part of the world - the harsh winter storms have closed the place down. In the first two books by C.J. Box, (Open Season and Savage Run), we have been treated to mysteries with strong environmental themes. In Winterkill Joe turns his attention to a murder investigation and then a more pressing personal crisis.
Joe Pickett is the game warden with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department living in the small town of Saddlestring, Twelve Sleep County. He is a quiet and easy-going family man, husband to Marybeth, father to 11 year-old Sheridan, 6 year old Lucy and foster-father to 9 year-old April. A fair, hard-working man he stands up for what he believes in even when that means leaving himself and, occasionally, his family open to get hurt.
While out on his regular patrol one winter's day, Joe witnesses a hunter who flouts the 1 elk bag limit by running amok through a herd, taking down 7 animals before Joe can get to him. When he does he is shocked to find that the hunter is none other than Lamar Gardiner, the district supervisor for Twelve Sleep National Forest, the person who makes the hunting laws, not the person who breaks them. In a typically Joe Pickett moment, Lamar escapes his custody and rushes into the forest in the middle of a worsening snowstorm. By the time Joe finds him again, he has been brutally murdered.
Coinciding with the murder is the arrival of a ragtag group of people in SUV's and camper-vans who take up residence in the National Park outside of town; they call themselves Sovereigns and are a mixture of anti-government protesters and dropouts. Among the Sovereigns is Jeannie Keeley, April's mother, a bitter and angry woman who abandoned April when she was a toddler. Joe and Marybeth are faced with the prospect of losing the little girl they had come to love as their own daughter.
The murder results in the arrival of another Forest Service agent, Melinda Strickland, supposedly sent to investigate her fellow officer's death. But she's bad news, you can tell that straight away when, moments after being introduced to Joe he watches as she barely restrains from kicking her dog in a moment of anger. Dog-kicking proves to be the least of her sins though. She is a self-centered woman with little regard for the safety of others, a dangerous woman when dealing with murderers and harsh climactic conditions.
Joe is dragged into the mess as a potential bloodbath looks a likely result of the standoff between the Sovereigns and the Federal Agents. To start with he is merely a concerned local citizen whose concern is primarily for a peaceful existence, but it becomes personal when April is placed right in the firing line inside the Sovereign camp.
Winterkill starts out at a very relaxed pace and we are allowed to settle in and enjoy a snowed-in Christmas with the Picketts, giving us a chance to feel comfortable with them. We are also given ample opportunity to enjoy the descriptions of the spectacular scenery surrounding them. This soon changes to the mounting tension and frustration levels as Strickland and the feds take over the town. Finally, we are thrust into a dramatic race against time through atrocious conditions ensuring a breathless ending.
It was established in the earlier books of the series that Joe Pickett is a "good" man. He always takes the passive option, often to his own detriment, and is ruled by his conscience. This is carried on in Winterkill, but it tends to restrict his effectiveness as a protagonist, particularly when he comes up against completely morally bankrupt people, as he does here. Enter a new character and eventual ally for Joe, Nate Romanowski. Nate oozes confidence and violence and adds a touch of the maverick for the good guys. He's a perfect foil to Joe's upstanding philosophy and, although we don't learn a lot about his past, every time he entered the scene he was a breath of fresh air.
A murder investigation, a Ruby Ridge style stand-off on Battle Mountain and a desperate bid by a father to protect his daughter makes Winterkill a thrilling book. Add to that Box's ability to paint the Wyoming landscape with wonderful clarity that gave me a strong sense of place and you've got a very enjoyable book.
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based on 32 reviews
AWESOME! Oct 21, 2008
Grim and Full of Animal Cruelty Jul 31, 2008
