Open Season by C. J. Box

After Midwest Dave raved about Cold Wind, the 11th book in C. J. Box’s series about Joe Pickett, I decided to check out the first Pickett novel, Open Season, written in 2001. Joe is the brand new Game Warden in Twelve Sleep County, Wyoming. Considering the hunting culture in Wyoming and the ability to arrest anyone who violates hunting laws, the position of Game Warden is an important one. Once appointment, it was usually a lifetime position, unless the warden really screwed up. Joe has just replaced a legend. Then, in his early years on the job, Joe had really screwed up a couple times, like arresting the new Governor who was fishing without a license, or allowing his pistol to be taken by a poacher. No one will let him forget those blunders. But, Joe loved his work, and his wife, Marybeth, loved him. Then, a man who had been shot, Ote Keeley, stumbled onto Joe’s property, but died before he could tell Joe why he had come. The novel is about solving the mystery, and unraveling the story takes the reader deep into the culture of the Endangered Species Act, born from liberal minds, and the impact it can have on the entrenched ultra-conservative ranching culture. Joe Pickett reminds me a lot of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher, but Joe is not the lone wolf that Reacher is, and Joe is beholden to one community and his family, rather than someone like Reacher who is unattached and seems to find trouble wherever he goes. Like Jack Reacher, Joe Pickett has high and uncompromising ethics. There lies the story. Thanks Dave. I’ve already acquired Box’s second book, Savage Run.