Out of Range (A Joe Pickett Novel)

Another great novel by C J Box!

As usual, with any of the C.J. Box books that I have read, and I have read a lot of his books though I am not sure if I have read all of them or not, I have loved each one! This one is right up there with the best, so far, of the ones that I have read and enjoyed. First of all, I simply love the locale of his books, as I have visited Wyoming several times and love the vastness and "wildness" of the state and its beautiful mountains and the sparsity of people! After all, they have the Teton Mountains! You can't be more "Mountainous and beautiful than that, and they have "Jackson Hole" as well." It can't get much better, now, can it? And it is still called Jackson Hole in this book, but the last time that I was there a few years ago now, it is calling itself just "Jackson." I have no idea what "City Planning Committee" decided that to call it "Jackson" would draw more tourists to the town, but if that was their purpose, in my opinion it would have been better to leave it as was. I much prefer to say "We stayed in Jackson Hole a few days" than we stayed in Jackson....." After all, there is Jackson, Mississippi, Jackson, Tennessee, Jacksonville, Fla., etc, but "Jackson Hole" was unique.It is much different reading about a murder or murders taking place in this seemingly serene locality than it is in a large city. There just aren't as many people to blame, so nine times out of ten, it is going to be someone that Joe knows, as there isn't anyone else except the tourists as suspects! But human nature takes its course here as much as it does in larger locations and/or in more sophisticated cities! In this particular book, Joe is sent to Jackson Hole to help out with Ranger duties, but not in his usual capacity. He is sent to replace a district ranger who supposedly committed suicide. But Joe knew the man well, and though he is aware that the man had deteriorated because of drinking too much, Joe feels that there is more to it, and after he has interaction with other characters in the town, the people that the last ranger would have had contact with, as well, the mystery deepens. There is a beautiful and mysterious lady that is married to the wealthy land owner, one of the "shakers & movers" in Jackson, who is good friends with the governor, but he {the wealthy husband of the mystery lady} isn't exactly full of virtue, and neither is his beautiful trophy wife! It is out of character for the stolid and "true blue" Joe Pickett to find another woman attractive, but for some reason that he can't understand himself, he is drawn to the rich man's wife. And his wife and daughters have stayed at home, they could not uproot the girls because of school and Marybeth has her own job that she cannot neglect, so she can't leave and go to Jackson Hole with Joe, and the separation is not good for either of them, as more complications arise, for both of them. There is still some outside action, where Joe is challenged with danger from another source that he has to deal with. He does still have his work to do in the mountains, which he prefers to the "desk Jockey" position that he was brought in for, and which he doesn't like, but must try to get through. There is some action scenes for Joe in the mountains, one dealing with a rogue bear and another with a bear of a man! For Joe, he pefers his mountain work, with wildlife to deal with and sometimes it is "rogue" humans, as well, but a lot of the story takes place in Jackson Hole and the "city folks" play a big role in this story, as does Joe's friend Nate, and Marybeth's obnoxious, trouble making Mother is still around to cause mischief and stress in their lives, so some things never change, in Joe and Marybeth Pickett's lives as in real life for all of us! Maybe that is why his books are so likeable and popular, Box seems to be writing about real people, like you and I and our families and friends and neighbors..... I read this book on my Kindle and thoroughly enjoyed it!

I really enjoyed this book. It was quite a different setting for Joe Pickett. Lots of new challenges for our hero. There is a very nice surprise at the very end.

Brilliantly written as always, Box is such a good storyteller it's a no-brainer that I will buy and read his next book in this series

I just finished reading the fifth novel in this series called “out of range”. I enjoyed reading it and look forward to buying number six.

Will Jensen was then game warden for the Jackson Hole district of Wyoming and a friend Joe Pickett’s. It was a real shock when Joe heard that Will had committed suicide, because as far as Joe was concerned Will was as down to earth and centered as a man can be and a lot like Joe himself. Joe was filled with a mixture of excitement and trepidation when asked to fill in temporarily for the busy season out in Will’s district, because he knew it was a lot more responsibility than Twelve Sleep.Joe not being one to avoid controversy runs head first into all of Will’s old problems. One being a cantankerous outfitter named Smoke Van Horn who has been outsmarting Will for years. Then there are the people trying to build some strange new perfect meat community that Will thought interfered with wildlife migration patterns. Possibly the most dangerous is a beautiful married woman that Joe finds powerfully attractive.Meanwhile back at home Marybeth is getting more and more upset with Joe for being out of touch even though she knows that cell service is potty in the mountains. Nate has been visiting as Joe asked him to, but Sheridan thinks her mother pays too much attention to the rugged outdoorsman and makes way nicer dinners when he comes to call. Sheridan is not making life easy for her mother and that makes Marybeth even more angry at Joe for being away.This mission will test Joe like none before, not only his abilities but also his character and commitment to his family. Five stars for C. J. Box and his creation Joe Pickett.

Joe Picket invetigates the suicide death of a fellow Wyoming game warden.This is not as complicated as the last several books in this series and also a lot less day-to-day family life of the game warden. In fact, this story takes place while Picket is assigned temporary duty away from home (to Jackson Hole).Good mystery with plenty of Wyoming outdoor life and adventure. Enjoyable read.

I love every book he has ever written, and his Stand Alone Books are EXCELLENT!I love the books, but not what TV has done to them, I HATED Big Sky or whatever it was on ABC last year or the year before, terrible, none of the characters looked like what they should have, lousy casting, Cody Hoyt’s wife who had barely one page of dialogue in the original book, and Cassie Dewell who is a dumpy white woman, is all of a sudden and skinny black woman. Just not good, I did like the Joe Pickett character on the Paramount series but really? But not his mother in lay, bad casting, and all of a sudden Nate Romanowski is no longer a blond guy, but a black guy. I donno, just don’t like the changes they made.