Long Range

A middling C.J. Box novel is better than the best efforts of most mystery/thriller authors, but this is a middling entry in the Joe Pickett series, full of great setups and wonderful suspense undermined by the sped-up wrapups of several plot threads, all executed with all the grimace-inducing squealing of a fast-forwarded tape. And that’s only the ones that were resolved in this admirably ambitious but ultimately overstuffed novel.

Before the wheels come off, however, Box keeps things spinning with his usual superlative skill. A lot of mysterious new characters are introduced, and a handful of former ones make appearances. Somehow LONG RANGE makes room for a vengeful FBI agent, a Mexican cartel hitman, an eccentric film producer, an inscrutable sheriff, a Florida millionaire and a lawyer named Kink. And things always gent interesting when Joe’s biggest nemesis his mother-in-law comes back to town to wreak more havoc in his family’s life. And there’s a number of other equally interesting characters. But most of them don’t get satisfying character arcs they feel more cauterized than tied off and up and overall, LONG RANGE reads like a book that was meant to be about 150 pages longer but was hastily rewritten or edited down to a more conventional page count. Why else would the last several chapters and several plot lines get wrapped up at 78-rpm speed?

Box is good, and LONG RANGE is well worth the read, but he’s better than what he delivered here, and I have no doubt he’ll deliver it. Twenty book into the series, there’s no sense that he’s losing interest in Joe Pickett, Nate Romanowski and Co. if anything, LONG RANGE indicates that he’s so over-interested in them that he doesn’t know how to deal with all his good ideas. If that’s the case, someday I hope to read a “director’s cut” of this bookif, as I suspect, a lot of pages were left on the cutting-room floor.

I admit, anytime Nate shows up, I like the Joe Pickett book even more.
Small, rural communities often end up with more than their share of misfits, often in positions that even mild vetting would prevent – the people just aren’t exposed to evil as reliably as people who are in contact with more people are.
That’s the painful bottom line that creates this book.
The characters are wonderful. It is best, of course, to read this series in order, as events of previous books tend to cause events in subsequent books, and changes the characters.
And these characters, are characters. They are unique, wonderful people. Some have quirks, some are bland, but none are extras. Each creates swirls in the smoke that covers the stage, and causes the others to move.
This was an extraordinary book.

I have read all of Mr Boxs books and have enjoyed them all. The waiting between books is the worst! His books are just so good. Great characters. These are people you really like and care about or NOT!
I just finished Long Range and, like I told my brother, I wanted to know what was going to happen ,but at the same time I didnt want the story to end.
My one question is, when is the next book being released?

Let me start by saying I have read every book in the Joe Pickett series and thoroughly enjoyed the growth of the characters. Following the growth of Joe’s family and his various troubles and game warden adventures has been enjoyable beyond what I could imagine.

Spoiler alert! Mr. Box, it is time to find someone to blame for everything other than Nate Romanowski. You have beaten this dead horse long enough. Please move on and allow this man to live in peace. Surely someone as imaginative a writer as you are can come up with a new scapegoat. Please. That ruined this one for me.

Obviously, IMHO, far from the best of the bunch.

Reading Joe Pickett novels is like spending time with old friends. Im excited to see each new one while reluctant to read it straight through because I know it will be at least a year before the next one comes out. Long Range is no exception. The plot and subplots keep that little bit of doubt & uncertainty as how or even if everything is related. Wild bears, assassins, illicit drug sales and even the evil mother-in-law create action, suspense, dread & gratification. I appreciate that there good guys with ethics.

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