Shadows Reel by C.J. Box

 

In the latest Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett adventure, Mary Beth, Joe’s wife takes center stage in the drama that ensues.  One morning as she arrives at the Saddlestring library where she is director, Mary Beth spots a man leaving a package at the front door.  The package contains a photo album that once belonged to a powerful Nazi official and the album has apparently been pilfered from the Eagle’s Nest retreat, Hitler’s final hideout at the end of World War II.  That same day, Joe is summoned by a local rancher to investigate the poaching of a dead moose on the rancher’s land.  The supposed moose turns out to be the rancher’s neighbor, fishing guide Bert Kizer.  He’d been tortured and set on fire.  The search of Bert’s cabin that follows reveals someone is looking for something.  Mary Beth explores Bert’s background online and finds that his father had served in WWII and was in the first American contingent to reach Hitler’s famed Eagle’s Nest retreat.  Apparently, the American soldiers, including Bert’s father grabbed whatever souvenirs they could carry and took them home.  But now three fourths of a century later, who and why is someone willing to kill for the spoils?  And why has Mary Beth and her family been put in danger?

C.J. Box has written another suspenseful action packed thriller.  Joe once again saves his family from the evils of the world and yes he crashes another pickup truck.

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for the advance read.

 West Coast Don writes: This is another good C. J. Box story, proving why he's such a mainstay in our list of favorite authors. I listened to this in audiobook format as I strolled a remote beach in Mexico in June 2023. The book has already been reviewed by both MWD and ECD - enough said.