Savage Run

The Joe Pickett series has become my new non-stop read following in the wake of all things “Longmire”. I am not necessarily a major fan of Wyoming, I just like the descriptive narratives by author C J Box. His story lines are very unique and draw you in very quickly. His character, Joe Picket – Wyoming Game & Fish Warden – is truly a believable “every man”… I can easily seeing a young James Stewart playing the role. I truly enjoy how the author unfolds the failures of the character that makes him so much more realistic and relatable. Joe’s inability to shoot worth a darn unless it is a shotgun is a prime example… But it is Pickett’s dogged determination to see everything through to the conclusion regardless of what everyone else says or does that is most remarkable. I frequently find myself reading with Google maps open to Wyoming next to me while I try to figure out where the store takes place. Despite being in the fictional town of “Saddlestring” Wyoming, (actually the map shows there really is a Saddlestring) I suspect CT Box used Sheridan, Wyoming as his backdrop. I plan to ride my motorcycle out there this summer and see the country first hand. If you like Craig Johnson’s “Longmire” series, you will love CT Box’s “Joe Picket” series.

This is another excellent book by CJ Box. Some of the things that I like about this author are the following. First, he has excellent character development. Joe Pickett and his family are all developed very well. I almost felt that I was there with them listening and understanding their conversations. Second, when Joe Pickett is in the field traveling in the foot hills of the Big Horn Mountains, CJ Box does an excellent job of describing the country. Again, I had a sense that I was there with them. I have been to that area of the country and would like to live in spite of no Spring, but life is a series of compromises. CJ Box takes me back to the countryside that he is describing and that is a joy to me. Other than these two areas – character development and countryside descriptions – there are few words. He is direct describing what is happening. Another excellent offering. I can’t wait to read the next book in the Joe Pickett series.

I have been reading C J Box’s novels since Christmas as a way to relax before sleeping at night. However, he paints very visually pleasing scenery with his writing that it was hard to go to sleep. His writing style is very visual and his storyline is pretty much immersed in the culture of the west, especially the big country state of Wyoming and the surrounding areas. I’ve never been to states the north of Colorado so some of the images that flood my mind when I read his books are just what I imagine them to be based on what is written.
Anyway, the pace of his books are not hurried so it goes at a comfortable pace where you can keep up. Joe Pickett as a character is like a neighbor you have that you can count on to help at any time. However, his job involves some danger and you kind of feel for him at those times. He’s likeable and somewhat vulnerable and I like that in a novel character. He’s not Jack Reacher or some of the super human variety in other genre of books written for adventure and murder spree. A killing machine he is not. He is methodical, he is safety conscious and most of all, he uses his experience and intelligence to solve problems.
Overall, I have been enjoying the novels written from 15 years ago and I’m trying to move as quickly as I can. There are a lot of books to read in my future so in a way I’m glad. I have enjoyed reading his first 3 novels and I bought a couple more after that. I might just keep on reading about Joe Pickett for a while longer.

Love this series. Have read all the Joe Pickett books and can’t tell you how I’m waiting for the next. Box is an exceptional writer and his character Joe and his family draw you right in. The story lines are great and sometimes I just in awe on how the twists and turns work out. Love Nat he is a wonderful character and hope Box keeps him around a long time. Joe is just the perfect hero who not only does what is necessary because he believes in the rightfulness of his job and protecting the wilderness but he is also funny and vulnerable. The girls and Mary Beth are just perfect. Not sure why Box put the mother in but she is a character and sometimes I wish she would get her due because she is just so malicious. Anyway you will love these books and you will love how Box describes the country and wilderness and the culture of the of American Northwest. I’m from NY but I have to tell you from reading these books, I would love to venture up to Montana and see this beautiful country. Was glad when I read that Box turned down a series of Joe Pickett because he didn’t like the way it was being set up.
Good for you having values yourself. Read these books you will love them. Can’t wait for the next.

The story – and presumably the entire series – is set in present-day northern Wyoming, a place where I’ve spent a little time over the years. I especially enjoy the details the author uses in describing the weather and geography, both are accurately portrayed and become characters in an of themselves. Anyone who has high-centered a 4-wheel drive pick-up in a washed out trail or negotiated a Wyoming muddy two track in a freak June snow squall will relate. The protagonist, Joe Picket, is believable, a family man and a guy doing a job, as opposed to being a super-human hero as so many in adventure novel characters become. Ever-present is the tension among ranchers, absentee landowners, locals, hunters, preservationists and an often-remote federal bureaucracy, all with valid points of view. The story features good guys, bad guys, but mostly guys in-between.

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