sssnoo's review against another edition
4.0
I am binging my way through the Joe Picket series while I’m driving/camping in Wyoming. These books are a perfect audio partner while I drive. Fun plots, great characters, and wonderful narration. It’s so much fun to actually see the places CJ Box describes.
december31378's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
xkay_readsx's review against another edition
4.0
Go with God. But leave me out of it.
I thought the most common name is John Smith, then I found out that book characters often have a friend named Jack Daniels.
I thought the most common name is John Smith, then I found out that book characters often have a friend named Jack Daniels.
novel_infatuation's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
scott_a_miller's review against another edition
2.0
This was a barely okay and I think, to date, my least favorite Pickett book. Everything about it was just a little ridiculous. The core story wasn’t really rewarding because the outcome doesn’t seem very viable. The Nate component as well as the Missy situation is becoming silly. Joe wasn’t really even the character Box has given us. Hopefully Portensen is gone, that could be a positive. Hopefully the next one finds it footing again.
debbieg725's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
ozreus's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
What a book! What a ride! Up and down I don't know how many times, I thought for sure that things were going to turn out one way when they turned out very different.
Great characters as always, I feel Mr. Box writes pretty accurately what broad range of people you encounter on a day-to-day basis all with different beliefs, hopes and dreams. Governor Rulon I can never be sure about book to book but the guy certainly has grown on me and become one of my favorites up there with the Picketts and Nate.
Spoiler
When, through the whole book, they're looking for and hoping that April is alive and will be with them again only to reveal that the girl they thought was April all along was someone else entirely. OOOOH! Then to reveal that April is in fact alive and has been for years! And to reunite them right at the very end, what a payoff and cliff-hanger all in one!Great characters as always, I feel Mr. Box writes pretty accurately what broad range of people you encounter on a day-to-day basis all with different beliefs, hopes and dreams. Governor Rulon I can never be sure about book to book but the guy certainly has grown on me and become one of my favorites up there with the Picketts and Nate.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Gore, Murder, Trafficking, and Violence
ncrabb's review against another edition
5.0
This really could go down as the best book in this series so far. You’re yanked hard into Joe Pickett’s world from the first page. Murders are being committed in Wyoming and surrounding states, and at first, no one can figure out whether the victims are in some way connected.
It’s a father-and-son bit of nastiness. Dad has been a gangster in Chicago for years and has amassed millions. His son is so consumed by environmentalism and attempting to save the world that he will do whatever he can to force is aging dying millionaire father to reduce his carbon footprint below zero. This is done by terminating the lives of others who have a large carbon footprint because of their activities. So according to the son, if you want to pay the Earth back for your own carbon transgressions, you must kill other transgressors to offset your environmental sins.
Early in the book, the killings aren’t relevant to Joe Pickett and his life. But when his teenage daughter, Sheridan, starts getting text messages from a girl who everyone believed had burned to death in a botched law enforcement problem in an earlier book. April had been a foster daughter for Joe and his wife, and it was her body they knew they saw blow up in a nasty trailer fire in an earlier book. But now Sheridan Pickett is getting text message from someone who claims to be April, and that someone is pointing things out to Sheridan that only April would know.
The murderous gangster and his environmentalist sicko son are traveling about with a 14-year-old girl in their SUV. Is she the mysterious April? It looks to Joe like that’s the case. He vows to rescue the girl, and this time, if it’s indeed her, he won’t fail.
There’s nothing formulaic about these books. You can generally find on any shelf a number of books in which the conservative or libertarian person is the crazed one. Lots of books out there depict people of faith as being unhinged. But in this book, Box shows you a disturbing angle on environmentalism at its extreme that will give you much to think about and additional reasons to hold any extremism at arms’ length, to say the least.
I love these characters. I deliberately read other books between moving forward in this series only because the anticipation of returning to it is part of what adds to my enjoyment of it. Box does well at showing all sides of things. Joe Pickett is a flawed man who will ultimately do the right thing, but it may bake him a few tries to get there. Anyone who picks up the series will be able to relate to him. I realize this series is still early on for me, but I don’t see any evidence that it’s getting tired or sputtering to some whimpering finish line. Clearly. Box is a keen observer of men and things, and he finds ways of converting his own powers of observation into his books.
The F-bomb fails at least once here and perhaps more, but there are no sexual descriptions. There are somewhat detailed scenes of gun violence, but those scenes are brief and kept to the point. I’m already looking forward to book 10, but that’s on hold for a while.
It’s a father-and-son bit of nastiness. Dad has been a gangster in Chicago for years and has amassed millions. His son is so consumed by environmentalism and attempting to save the world that he will do whatever he can to force is aging dying millionaire father to reduce his carbon footprint below zero. This is done by terminating the lives of others who have a large carbon footprint because of their activities. So according to the son, if you want to pay the Earth back for your own carbon transgressions, you must kill other transgressors to offset your environmental sins.
Early in the book, the killings aren’t relevant to Joe Pickett and his life. But when his teenage daughter, Sheridan, starts getting text messages from a girl who everyone believed had burned to death in a botched law enforcement problem in an earlier book. April had been a foster daughter for Joe and his wife, and it was her body they knew they saw blow up in a nasty trailer fire in an earlier book. But now Sheridan Pickett is getting text message from someone who claims to be April, and that someone is pointing things out to Sheridan that only April would know.
The murderous gangster and his environmentalist sicko son are traveling about with a 14-year-old girl in their SUV. Is she the mysterious April? It looks to Joe like that’s the case. He vows to rescue the girl, and this time, if it’s indeed her, he won’t fail.
There’s nothing formulaic about these books. You can generally find on any shelf a number of books in which the conservative or libertarian person is the crazed one. Lots of books out there depict people of faith as being unhinged. But in this book, Box shows you a disturbing angle on environmentalism at its extreme that will give you much to think about and additional reasons to hold any extremism at arms’ length, to say the least.
I love these characters. I deliberately read other books between moving forward in this series only because the anticipation of returning to it is part of what adds to my enjoyment of it. Box does well at showing all sides of things. Joe Pickett is a flawed man who will ultimately do the right thing, but it may bake him a few tries to get there. Anyone who picks up the series will be able to relate to him. I realize this series is still early on for me, but I don’t see any evidence that it’s getting tired or sputtering to some whimpering finish line. Clearly. Box is a keen observer of men and things, and he finds ways of converting his own powers of observation into his books.
The F-bomb fails at least once here and perhaps more, but there are no sexual descriptions. There are somewhat detailed scenes of gun violence, but those scenes are brief and kept to the point. I’m already looking forward to book 10, but that’s on hold for a while.
the_preston_leigh's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I have been enjoying the Joe Pickett series this year. Another good one for the series.