(2017) Another run-in with the Cates family as Dallas is released from prison only to become a deadly threat to Joe's family. When Joe confronts Brenda at the women's correction center, he discovers how she was able to plan and control the revenge taken out by Dallas. A cell phone hidden in her custom wheelchair allowed her to make contacts with the outside whenever she wished. This results in the death of Dallas's cohorts by Nate and the capture of a corrupt state cop who facilitated Dallas in his scheme. KIRKUS:In his 17th adventure, Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett (Off the Grid, 2016, etc.) goes another 15 rounds with surviving members of the toxic Cates family.Joe has run into ex-everything Dave Farkus too many times in too many unsavory ways to expect any favors from him. So he's doubly surprised when Farkus phones him from Stockman's Bar to say he's overheard a conversation about Joe and his family before he's abruptly cut off. Joe's concern turns to alarm when Farkus disappears from a hunting trip, and his blood is curdled by the discoveries of dead Farkus and disconcertingly alive Dallas Cates, the disgraced rodeo star who ran off with Joe's daughter April, dumped her out of his truck, and ended up in the prison he's just been released from, hungry for vengeance for the deaths of his father and two brothers. County attorney Dulcie Schalk has no trouble linking Dallas to the dead man, but high-priced defense attorney Marcus Hand, now married to Joe's scheming, useless mother-in-law, Miss Vankueren, has even less trouble getting the charges dropped, leaving Dallas and his two hirelings free to roam the trails of Ten Sleep County, virtually immune from prosecution, as they ponder new ways to menace the Picketts. Can Joe gather enough evidence to neutralize Dallas before the charismatic sociopath, whose paralyzed mother, Brenda, is the queen bee of the Wyoming Department of Corrections' Women's Center, neutralizes Joe and his whole family?Bracingly familiar pleasures expertly packaged. The two families' fraught history, tangled enough to fuel a whole season of high-country soap opera, keeps this installment from being the best place to take the initial plunge into the franchise, but first-timers will be intrigued and fans amply rewarded.Pub Date: March 21, 2017ISBN: 978-0-399-17661-6Page Count: 384Publisher: Putnam

Back to Wyoming to check on the Pickett family in the 17th installment of the series. Dallas Cates seems to be back - and really ready to make trouble for Joe and his family. Joe does everything he could to protect them - including sending them to Marybeth's mother (who reappears again) and chasing after Dallas in any way he can.

The novel mostly ties up old stories - the background is there so it can be read as a standalone but it is an unusual book in more than one way. Everyone we know and like is around and gets to play their role (except for the old governor - now out of office and the new one does not seem to be as enamored with our game warden as the old one was) but the story veers into the straight thriller territory, leaving behind much of the western vibe that the series usually has.

It is a good thriller and probably one of the better books in the series as a whole but I've grown to like the calmness in these books (often shattered by Joe doing something he just must do) and I missed it here. Still a good installment in a long running series - tying up some old threads, opening some new options and setting up the series for the future. Onto the next one. ( )

I've always enjoyed this Joe Pickett series by C.J. Box but had missed quite a few. So, I grabbed this book 17 and once again remembered why I love these books so much, especially in audio! Lots of action, memorable characters and always a love of Wyoming that shines through. I have already put a hold on the next book and look forward to the next adventure! ( )

Book #17 in the Joe Pickett series. (I didn't know that when I began reading) Joe is a game warden in Wyoming, but the book reads like a police procedural. Joe is trying to neutralize a man he put in prison once, who is now seeking revenge upon him and his family. Wished I had at least read #1 in the series, but this book was ok as a stand alone. I just felt that I didn't know the characters that well....but a good read! 369 pages ( )

I've read all 17 of CJ Box's novels featuring Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett. This is one of the absolute best. The book is WAY better written than it needs to be, as a genre mystery/thriller. Box will never be mistaken for a brilliant "literary" crime novelist like Tana French - but he has evolved as a writer in impressive fashion to where, in my opinion, with this novel in particular, he is almost on the verge of being worthy of the "L" word. His prose is smooth and incredibly vivid, and even minor characters are imbued with a reasonably complex inner life. But have no fear that that action will be neglected - Box delivers the goods with PLENTY of intense action.

Box has from the beginning incorporated social issues and complex moral shades of grey into his novels, which adds a richness and depth, and this novel is no exception. Also, for a male author of essentially "men's fiction", featuring a male hero, Box is downright progressive in terms of gender politics. "I need your brain on this one, Marybeth", Joe tells his wife at one point. Joe views his wife as an equal partner and in fact is rather in awe of her intellect and overall competency at times.

His female characters are not just there to be saved or as window dressing. There is one extended scene in particular that is a conversation between Marybeth and her mom that is largely unnecessary to the plot but I am so glad it was included, as it was actually quite poignant and added a lot of depth to the proceedings.

At one point Marybeth reacts to an incredibly scary and imminent threat to her family in the most calm, level-headed, quick-witted, and on-point manner imaginable, and is ironically, and to Marybeth's disgust, treated completely inaccurately as being hysterical, and told to "calm down". Could this be a sly commentary by the author on the way in which women are often still treated even today? To me, it seemed likely. ( )