Endangered by C.J. Box

Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett is investigating a remote field where a flock of sage grouse has been massacred.  Sage grouse are on the endangered species list and he knows the incident will attract federal authorities, not to mention his own ire.  He has not completed collecting evidence when the sheriff calls his cell phone.  Seems a young woman was found along the highway outside of Saddlestring… beaten, unconscious, and left to die.  Joe knows the woman is his eighteen year old adopted daughter, April.  Much to Joe’s and Marybeth’s (his wife) chagrin, April had run off the previous November with a local hellion and rodeo champion named Dallas Cates.  Dallas, his parents, and his two older brothers were constantly menacing on the fringe of the law.  In fact, Joe had sent one of the brothers to prison for hunting elk out of season, a serious crime in Wyoming.

Eldon and Brenda Cates, Dallas’ parents meet with the sheriff to dispel suspicion of Dallas in the crime.  They claim Dallas had been gored by a bull in his last rodeo and was physically unable to visit the sheriff’s office, let alone beat up April.  They claim April and Dallas had split as a couple some time ago.  Joe doesn’t buy their story until an anonymous tip identifies an eccentric survivalist, Tilden Cudmore as April’s abductor.

Meanwhile, Nate Romanowski, Joe’s outlaw pal is released from prison after agreeing to go straight and assist in capturing some bad guys.  But Nate is ambushed with shotguns on his first day of freedom and his lady friend disappears.  So for Joe the hunt is on… this is personal.  With his friend and his daughter in intensive care in a Billings, Montana hospital, Joe senses a connection between these crimes and possibly to the sage grouse massacre as well.  Joe will find who is responsible even if it kills him.

Endangered is the best Joe Pickett novel I’ve read.  Box creates a complex plot and masterfully reveals just enough information to sustain the anticipation.  Joe reacts just as you would expect… damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead.  I highly recommend this book.

C.J. Box included the St. Louis County Library as a stop on his book tour last month.  Decked out in cowboy boots and a black cowboy hat with a large feather in the brim, he personified the Wyoming gentleman cowboy.  He recently sold his Joe Pickett series to Robert Redford’s production company.  Intentions are to make each book a movie.  The Cassie Dewell character from The Highway, he has sold to David E. Kelly, the TV producer.  A new book, Badlands is due out in July featuring Cassie.  One other tidbit from his talk, Box’s favorite authors in his genre are John Sanford, Michael Connelly, and Denise Mina.  The first two are well represented in the MRB blog, Denise Mina will be soon.