Shots Fired

This is a collection of ten short stories that I somehow missed when it first came out. I’m very glad that I remedied that oversight.

I love author Box’s storytelling and he shines in this collection. I’ve read all but one of his books THREE WEEKS TO SAY GOODBYE and plan on reading it next. I especially like his Joe Pickett character, Wyoming game warden, and Nate Romanowski, master falconer, and four of the stories in this collection are centered around one or the other of them. And the other stories are five star reads also.

I especially liked the short short story called BLOOD KNOT. It brought back memories of fishing with my Grandpa, even though we didn’t fly fish.

I highly recommend this collection to seasoned Box fans and it would be a good taste of his writing style if you’re just discovering him.

I have read all of the Joe Pickett books and loved them. Now my wife is reading them. Also the Highway and others. We love them. Now this. I believe Amazon has even dropped the price already from what I prepaid prior to release. This is a sorry collection of stories that you get into and then you are dropped. It is like the start of many books that could go somewhere but go almost nowhere. 2 stars is a gift because they are interesting up until they end unexpectedly. Get the other Box books but don’t waste your money on this one.

I have two friends who recommended the Joe Pickett series to me. I started with Book One and have read or listened to each one in the order of publication. I gave the book four stars because I have read numerous books that are truly outstanding and while these books will not be a Book of the Month they are very entertaining, fast moving and full of people you would like to know and some you would not.

Where do I even begin? I’ve been a fan of C.J. Box’s for years now and have loved every book he’s ever written. In fact he’s my favorite author. With that said, however, I was apprehensive about this book because I’ve never been a fan of short stories. It always seemed to me that by the time the stories would finally get interesting or you would finally start to care about a character the story was over and it was time to move to the next. Short stories frustrated me.

I was thrilled to find out that this wasn’t the case with Shots Fired.

One of Box’s strong suits is character development. He can make you appreciate even the most minor characters. I was devastated when each story ended because I wanted so badly to keep reading about the characters; I could probably read whole novels about some of them! This made it extremely easy to start the next story after finishing the previous because Box was able to hook me from page one just with the personalities of the central characters. I smiled every time I read about some characters and even cried over others.

The other thing Box does phenomenally is introduce the focus of the plot and describe the setting in a way that is very informative without being boring. He does an excellent job of emphasizing the points you need to know and leaving out the fluff that other writers include in a vain attempt to enhance their writing. When you read something in a C.J. Box novel, you know it will be important, with the exception of some fun facts he throws in once in awhile. I also love reading his paragraphs on the scenery and setting because he does such an impressive job of allowing you to really visualize the book in your mind.

The stories in this collection offer a very wide range from a handful of Joe Pickett stories to a story that takes place in France and even a story that takes place in the 1800s. You don’t need to read any of the Joe Pickett novels before reading these short stories, although I encourage it if you don’t want spoilers for the full length novels since the shorts play off of plots and characters from the novels. However, if you are intimidated by the idea of reading a fourteen book series (as I was at first), Shots Fired is a fantastic introduction to Box as a writer because of the way the stories highlight his strengths as a writer.

While there were some minor discrepancies between the Joe Pickett short stories and the series, they certainly didn’t take away from the quality of the stories. All of the Joe Pickett’s were highly entertaining and filled with action as well as C.J. Box’s sense of humor. My personal favorite was “Shots Fired: A Requiem for Ander Esti”. My other favorites included “Pirates of Yellowstone”, “The End of Jim and Ezra”, and “Every Day is a Good Day on the River”. Eddie from “Pirates…” and Duke from “Every Day is a Good Day…” made me laugh endlessly. I still laugh rereading most of their lines.

None of the stories in this collection were anything short of fantastic and I loved them all. I suggest you don’t read them all in five hour like I did however, as I felt a little burnt out towards the end. Each story deserves to be savored.

In short, I highly recommend Shots Fired to anyone who just loves a good story, regardless of genre or length, because there truly is something in this collection for everyone. C.J. Box is a true talent when it comes to crafting an incredible story!

SHORT stories are excellent things. Tiny bites of appetizers of an author’s work, they can be either miniatures, or lighter tastes, as if diluted or darker, as if concentrated. This collection contains at least one of each. The tastes are perfect, and each story was as carefully crafted as the rest.
All in all, a splendid collection.

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