The Disappeared is the 18th novel in the Joe
Pickett Series by C. J. Box. We at Men Reading Books have reviewed all of them.
I am so enamoured with Box’s stories about Joe Pickett that I have purchased
one of Box’s tee shirts which reads (WWJPD) which means, What Would Joe Pickett
Do. Joe is a Wyoming Game Warden and all of the novels follow his time on the
job, encounters with crooks, and his trouble with the ever changing
administration in Wyoming. This unceasingly honest man is constantly challenged
by ethical dilemmas.
In this newest
novel, Box is sent by the new governor, a shady and obnoxious man. Joe is sent
to Saratoga, Wyoming in order to look for an English celebrity who disappeared
after completing a week’s stay at the country’s most elite and expensive dude
ranch. (I worked on a dude ranch in Montana for a summer in the 60’s, and I
think Box captured the essence of that quite well.) Also, about the same time
the celebrity went missing (an event which was an international sensation and a
great embarrassment to the governor), the former Game Warden from Saratoga had
walked off his job without explanation, and he disappeared. When Joe is in the
midst of doing his investigation, he ran across the largest wind-energy project
in the U.S., and he began to wonder if there might be a connection to the
environmental challenges of the development company and the disappearance of
the celebrity. And, his oldest child, a daughter named Sheridan, now 23, and
had become romantically involved with the head wrangler at the dude ranch.
As usual, the
story was richly told. Box’s description of the bitter cold winter that was
occurring was as good as his usual descriptions of the rugged Wyoming
territory. Box included the ongoing development of Joe’s family and the
fascinating Nate Romanowski, a legendary outlaw falconer. This book gave me
what a wanted – more time with Joe Pickett and the rugged Wyoming countryside.
This would have been read in a single sitting, but fortunately, there were only
a couple short interruptions. If you haven’t read Joe Pickett, get to it.
C.J. Box came to the St Louis County library last Saturday eve as he usually does near the release of each of his novels. I would guess 250 were in attendance, the largest group I've seen at one of his book signings. The Disappearance had already made #1 on the NYT best seller list. Box revealed he has sold the Joe Pickett series, I believe he said to Paramont, and was assured the series would be produced from beginning to end with few changes. The actors are to be type cast and largely unknown so forget speculation about who plays Joe and Nate. Box himself will be an executive producer but hopes the role won't interfere with his writting... me too.
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