sssnoo's review against another edition
4.0
Cruising the road and cruising right on through this series. Good plots and interesting characters.
december31378's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
scott_a_miller's review against another edition
4.0
Another great story by Box. Not as good as some but excellent nevertheless. It was interesting to learn at the end that a real situation was it’s basis and that’s frightening.
Joe had a hard time with this one. Was it the end of an era for him? It’s going to be fun finding out. Looking forward to the next one.
Joe had a hard time with this one. Was it the end of an era for him? It’s going to be fun finding out. Looking forward to the next one.
tboofy's review against another edition
4.0
Excellent book. When I saw that Lee Child had endorsed it, I knew I needed to pick it up. Joe Pickett is a Wyoming game warden trying to figure out what happened when two EPA officials are killed by a neighbor in his community. In the process he uncovers abuse of power by government officials and has to keep himself and the suspect safe before he can arrest him.
I didn't realize it was from a series; I need to get the previous 12 books now!
I didn't realize it was from a series; I need to get the previous 12 books now!
ncrabb's review against another edition
5.0
I’ve wondered as I’ve read through this series at what point does it sputter and begin to squeak and rattle like one of Joe Pickett’s state-issued pickup trucks? I needn’t worry about that. At book 13, this series is as fresh as it was at book one, and the writing is even more compelling and sharper and more immediate than in the early books, and they were good to begin with.
Butch and Pam Roberson are a middle-aged couple with a teenage daughter only four years or so away from college. They love Hannah, and they know she won’t be with them forever. Why not just buy a small tract of land in rural Wyoming and build the dream home on it. They bought the land and began to clear it in preparation to build.
But wait! That land clearly is a wetland, since it’s so close to the river, according to far-away officials at the Environmental Protection Agency. Butch and Pam should never have cleared so much as a twig. The imperial order comes down from the Denver EPA office that the Robersons have five days to fix what they’ve cleared, and their failure to do so will result in fines levied against them daily. You can’t regrow grass and trees in five days, and so the fines are implemented. A year later, Joe and Pam owe 24 million dollars. Butch can’t pay it; he has no hope; no one is willing to negotiate or work with him. Butch breaks. When two EPA agents come to the land Butch has again begun to clear, something snaps, and soon two EPA agents are dead, and Butch Robeson is wanted for their deaths.
But Joe Pickett isn’t so sure Robeson is guilty. His investigation will take him through a horrific forest fire, a ride on a fallen tree down a dangerous river and so much more. And, like the watery torrent through which Pickett must pass, there is a thread running through this book of abusive federal authority, the need for power and influence gone horribly amuck, and the trampling of individualism under the unthinking unfeeling foot of the bureaucracy. And Box does an excellent job of putting a human face on all sides of the issue.
This book kept me glued to it on a quiet Sunday when I should have been doing a host of other more productive things. It is helpful to have read the other books in the series first, but it isn’t absolutely necessary. In the back, Box includes an instructive table that focuses on the top 12 states in which the federal government holds land. Interestingly enough, Nevada and Utah top the list.
Butch and Pam Roberson are a middle-aged couple with a teenage daughter only four years or so away from college. They love Hannah, and they know she won’t be with them forever. Why not just buy a small tract of land in rural Wyoming and build the dream home on it. They bought the land and began to clear it in preparation to build.
But wait! That land clearly is a wetland, since it’s so close to the river, according to far-away officials at the Environmental Protection Agency. Butch and Pam should never have cleared so much as a twig. The imperial order comes down from the Denver EPA office that the Robersons have five days to fix what they’ve cleared, and their failure to do so will result in fines levied against them daily. You can’t regrow grass and trees in five days, and so the fines are implemented. A year later, Joe and Pam owe 24 million dollars. Butch can’t pay it; he has no hope; no one is willing to negotiate or work with him. Butch breaks. When two EPA agents come to the land Butch has again begun to clear, something snaps, and soon two EPA agents are dead, and Butch Robeson is wanted for their deaths.
But Joe Pickett isn’t so sure Robeson is guilty. His investigation will take him through a horrific forest fire, a ride on a fallen tree down a dangerous river and so much more. And, like the watery torrent through which Pickett must pass, there is a thread running through this book of abusive federal authority, the need for power and influence gone horribly amuck, and the trampling of individualism under the unthinking unfeeling foot of the bureaucracy. And Box does an excellent job of putting a human face on all sides of the issue.
This book kept me glued to it on a quiet Sunday when I should have been doing a host of other more productive things. It is helpful to have read the other books in the series first, but it isn’t absolutely necessary. In the back, Box includes an instructive table that focuses on the top 12 states in which the federal government holds land. Interestingly enough, Nevada and Utah top the list.
theirresponsiblereader's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-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? Yes
4.0
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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What’s Breaking Point About?
Acquaintance and father of one of Lucy’s best friends, Butch Roberson, is in trouble—he’s been being harassed by some EPA agents and they’ve turned up dead. Joe was the last person to see him before he became a prime suspect in their murder and a subject of a manhunt. Which, in the perverse way that only bureaucrats can think, gets him in hot water.
Joe’s now tasked with helping some contractors track Butch through the wilderness—he really doesn’t want to do it, and almost quits over it. But the way these guys are acting, Joe figures that he’s the only one who can ensure that Butch is brought in alive and with a shot at a fair trial (especially if he can get him into local custody).
Joe’s been in hazardous wilderness conditions before—regularly, from the reader’s point of view—but I think it’s safe to say that these are the most dangerous he’s been in. And the humans (officially and unofficially) hunting for Butch are just making things worse.
Meanwhile, Marybeth is doing a little investigative work on the side for Joe while helping Butch’s wife and daughter through this time. She even sends up a flare hoping to get some help from Nate Romanowski.
There’s a whole lot of moving pieces in this novel, and hopefully, the Picketts and Robersons come out of things alive.
Federal Agencies
Outside of some FBI Agents (maybe only one), people who work for the Federal Government don’t come across well in these books. And Breaking Point is no exception.
I don’t know—and really don’t care—how much of Box’s own politics are reflected in these books, but he does a great job of portraying the attitudes of people in Wyoming and Idaho (not that he does a lot of Idaho work, but there’s some). Federal Agents are inherently suspect and will wield their power to damage the way of life of citizens. Sure, there are exceptions, but on the whole, you can’t trust them to do the right thing.
It’s never comfortable reading these depictions of the Federal Government, but if nothing else, it’s good to be reminded of/exposed to the way hunters/ranchers/etc.out here think of them—and why they do.
The Sub-plots
The new head of Game and Fish, Lisa Greene-Dempsey (LGD) is a more interesting foil for Joe than the previous officious penny-pinchers. She’s trying to reshape the Agency in a way that Joe’s not comfortable with, and she’s clearly playing politics with him/his job. But the way she’s going about it—with good intentions, I think—makes her a better character and gives us more interesting reactions from Joe. It’s always better to have competing good intentions than having one side just out to hurt the other/improve themself alone. The whole arc there is one of the best Joe vs. The System stories Box has given us.
I don’t get the Marybeth story, it fizzled on all fronts for me. If it’s to underline the financial hardships the family has gone through, he’s done it more effectively before. If it’s laying the groundwork for something else, on the other hand, great—but I want to see it soon. Generally, Marybeth’s stories are a highlight of these novels but this one fell flat for me.
While Sheridan had a pivotal part to play here, it sort of seems to me that Box doesn’t know what to do with her anymore (ditto for her sisters, but Sheridan’s always shown the brightest among them, so it seems worse). I really hope he does something interesting with her soon, I’m not sure how long I’d have stuck with the series if not for her early on, and I don’t want to not enjoy her in the future.
That Death…
There’s a significant character death that shocked me—both in the manner, the function in the story, and the fact that it happened at all. Box treated the whole thing perfectly.
I’m not going to get into details, but it was a smart, gutsy move.
How’s the Narration?
Chandler has the characterizations down pat—every time he says something as McLanahan (and how great is it to see how things went for him between Force of Nature and this book?) I want to punch the guy in his nose. Which is more violent than I typically get, but that voice is perfectly grating—a wonderful match for McLanahan’s personality.
He’s great even when he doesn’t irritate me—Chandler has brought this series to life, and continues that work here. Really don’t have much else to say.
So, what did I think about Breaking Point?
There’s a great call-back to Savage Run, reminding the reader just how far Joe’s come, and some of the things he’s pulled off in his career.
Box delivers a great thriller here, as we’re used to—with some important character work for Joe—including a move that’ll change his professional life forever.
It’s the thirteenth book in a series, and it’s really difficult to come up with something to say. The storytelling isn’t getting stale, the characters are developing nicely, the premise of the novel rings true, and Box executes it well. It’s an incredibly consistent series, really—not getting much better (nor does it need to), it’s definitely not getting worse.
There’s not much more to say—if you’ve liked most of the previous twelve novels (like I have), you’ll like this one. If you’re intrigued by the idea of a Game Warden getting involved in criminal investigations while dealing with wilderness adventures, you’ll likely enjoy this one, even without the backstory.
Box knows what he’s doing at this point, and even with my quibbles, I figure he’s going to do something in the future to remove them. Give this one a try.