Back of Beyond by C. J. Box

C. J. Box is one of the favorite authors at Men Reading Books, and I reviewed his latest book only last month, The Highway, which is one of his non Joe Pickett books. Turns out, he had already written this one (August 2011), Back of Beyond, and that’s where he introduced his new character Cody Hoyt. For me, this was like getting the necessary backstory on Hoyt, a damaged detective in the image of Ken Bruen’s Jack Taylor or James Lee Burke’s Dave Robicheaux. Like those two detectives, Hoyt is an alcoholic, but he is brand new to sobriety and throughout the book, he struggles with his thoughts and feelings about giving up the booze. What is different about this book and the AA theme is that the first murder victim was Hoyt’s AA sponsor. AA themes were present throughout the book including the confidential nature of the people who attend meetings and the content of what they reveal. Even the importance of AA tokens (awards for periods of sobriety) is an evidentiary issue in the death of Hoyt’s sponsor. Box obviously has some insight and understanding into the rehabilitation scene. His venue is Western Montana and Yellowstone park, and having spent some time in the back country there, I appreciated his rich descriptions of the countryside. In addition, he wrote one remarkable thriller, and I did not figure out all of the conspirators until the last few pages of the novel. Box is among the best in the crime novel genre, and he has now proven himself to be a multidimensional writer who has more up his sleeves than the Joe Pickett series, which I love. This book gets my recommendation.