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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780425195956
ISBN number: 0425195953
Label: Berkley
Manufacturer: Berkley
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 352
Printing Date: June 29, 2004
Publishing house: Berkley
Release Date: June 29, 2004
Sale Popularity Level: 29124
Studio: Berkley
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Product Description:
Joe Pickett's pursuit of a killer through the rugged mountains of Wyoming takes a horrifying turn when his beloved foster daughter is kidnapped. Now it's personal.
Amazon.com Review:
Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett returns in this third adventure in C.J. Box's tough, tender, and engrossing series, which just keeps getting better. When a forest service supervisor is murdered right after a manic shooting spree that slaughtered a herd of elk, a mysterious stranger who trains falcons and carries an unusual weapon is arrested for the slaying. Then a special investigative team headed by a devious, vindictive woman arrives in Saddlestring, bent on a bloody confrontation with a group of government-hating survivalists camped out on federal land. Among then is Jeannie Keeley, who abandoned her daughter April three years earlier. Since then, April has become like a daughter to Joe and his wife Marybeth, and a sister to their own children. Now April is right in the middle of what promises to be the last stand for the ragged band of refugees from the firestorms of Waco, Ruby Ridge, and the Montana Freemen, and only Nate the falconer, who owes Joe his life for finding the real killer of the supervisor and freeing him from jail, may be able to save her before the Bighorn Mountains are covered in blood. A tense, taut thriller marked by lyrical renderings of the harsh, beautiful landscape, Winterkill's subtext, as in Box's previous novels, is the conflict between individual rights and freedoms and governmental power that continues to smolder in the towns and valleys of the American west. --Jane Adams
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Rated by buyers 
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Product arrived quickly and in better condition than stated. Very Pleased with purchase. Highly recommend seller. Thank You.
Rated by buyers 
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This is the very first C.J. Box novel I have started to read (threw it away after p.59) and it will be the very last that I buy. The writing was poor, there was no plausible story line and the author resorted to grim and gory animal cruelty. Don't waste your money on this book!
Rated by buyers -
I started the Picket novels on recommendation from Amazon after buying the Alex McNight series by Steve Hamilton. Both book series are easy reads that will draw you in before you know it. They are slightly incredible in storyline over the series (as are most series books -after all, how many exciting things can happen to the same person over and over), but still enjoyable. Not as complex as someone like Ludlum, but very enjoyable for a tired mind after a busy week of work.
If you like these, try The McNight books by Steve Hamilton.
Rated by buyers -
And plenty of snow there is, adding proper atmosphere to a brooding mystery. Good character development, plausible (most of the time) plot lines, some weird characters, painted so as to generate maximum hatred or respect. When the lady from the Forest Service very first appears, you almost can hear readers hissing all across America. When the sheriff gets snide with Pickett, you want to relish what you hope will be his humiliation before the book ends. Scenes at the snowed-in Pickett household are poignant in light of future plot turns. A good page turner, with nicely done descriptions of the Big Horn Mountain area of almost-mystical Wyoming. May you write long and well, C.J. Box.
Rated by buyers -
The third Joe Pickett mystery once again finds trouble brewing in the wilds of Wyoming, but this time there is an added obstacle to maintaining peace and tranquility in this beautiful part of the world - the harsh winter storms have closed the place down. In the very first two books by C.J. Box, (Open Season and Savage Run), we have been treated to mysteries with strong environmental themes. In Winterkill Joe turns his attention to a murder investigation and then a more pressing personal crisis.
Joe Pickett is the game warden with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department living in the small town of Saddlestring, Twelve Sleep County. He is a quiet and easy-going family man, husband to Marybeth, father to 11 year-old Sheridan, 6 year old Lucy and foster-father to 9 year-old April. A fair, hard-working man he stands up for what he believes in even when that means leaving himself and, occasionally, his family open to get hurt.
While out on his regular patrol one winter's day, Joe witnesses a hunter who flouts the 1 elk bag limit by running amok through a herd, taking down 7 animals before Joe can get to him. When he does he is shocked to find that the hunter is none other than Lamar Gardiner, the district supervisor for Twelve Sleep National Forest, the person who makes the hunting laws, not the person who breaks them. In a typically Joe Pickett moment, Lamar escapes his custody and rushes into the forest in the middle of a worsening snowstorm. By the time Joe finds him again, he has been brutally murdered.
Coinciding with the murder is the arrival of a ragtag group of people in SUV's and camper-vans who take up residence in the National Park outside of town; they call themselves Sovereigns and are a mixture of anti-government protesters and dropouts. Among the Sovereigns is Jeannie Keeley, April's mother, a bitter and angry woman who abandoned April when she was a toddler. Joe and Marybeth are faced with the prospect of losing the little girl they had come to love as their own daughter.
The murder results in the arrival of another Forest Service agent, Melinda Strickland, supposedly sent to investigate her fellow officer's death. But she's bad news, you can tell that straight away when, moments after being introduced to Joe he watches as she barely restrains from kicking her dog in a moment of anger. Dog-kicking proves to be the least of her sins though. She is a self-centered woman with little regard for the safety of others, a dangerous woman when dealing with murderers and harsh climactic conditions.
Joe is dragged into the mess as a potential bloodbath looks a likely result of the standoff between the Sovereigns and the Federal Agents. To start with he is merely a concerned local citizen whose concern is primarily for a peaceful existence, but it becomes personal when April is placed right in the firing line inside the Sovereign camp.
Winterkill starts out at a very relaxed pace and we are allowed to settle in and enjoy a snowed-in Christmas with the Picketts, giving us a chance to feel comfortable with them. We are also given ample opportunity to enjoy the descriptions of the spectacular scenery surrounding them. This soon changes to the mounting tension and frustration levels as Strickland and the feds take over the town. Finally, we are thrust into a dramatic race against time through atrocious conditions ensuring a breathless ending.
It was established in the earlier books of the series that Joe Pickett is a "good" man. He always takes the passive option, often to his own detriment, and is ruled by his conscience. This is carried on in Winterkill, but it tends to restrict his effectiveness as a protagonist, particularly when he comes up against completely morally bankrupt people, as he does here. Enter a new character and eventual ally for Joe, Nate Romanowski. Nate oozes confidence and violence and adds a touch of the maverick for the good guys. He's a perfect foil to Joe's upstanding philosophy and, although we don't learn a lot about his past, every time he entered the scene he was a breath of fresh air.
A murder investigation, a Ruby Ridge style stand-off on Battle Mountain and a desperate bid by a father to protect his daughter makes Winterkill a thrilling book. Add to that Box's ability to paint the Wyoming landscape with wonderful clarity that gave me a strong sense of place and you've got a very enjoyable book.
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