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Free fire by C. J. Box
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Free fire (edition 2007)

by C. J. Box

Series: Joe Pickett (7)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
1,0092320,366 (3.84)39
Fiction. Mystery. Suspense. Thriller. HTML:Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett hunts a mass murderer in Yellowstone in this thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author C.J. Box. 

Joe Pickettâ??s been hired to investigate one of the most cold-blooded mass killings in Wyoming history. Attorney Clay McCann admitted to slaughtering four campers in a back-country corner of Yellowstone National Parkâ??a â??free-fireâ? zone with no residents or jurisdiction. In this remote fifty-square-mile stretch a man can literally get away with murder. Now McCannâ??s a free man, and Pickettâ??s about to discover his motiveâ??one buried in Yellowstoneâ??s rugged terrain, and as dangerous as the man who… (more)
Member:boulder_a_t
Title:Free fire
Authors:C. J. Box
Info:New York : Berkley Prime Crime, 2008, c2007.
Collections:Your library
Rating:
Tags:crime, Wyoming, Yellowstone, '15, Kindle

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Free Fire by C. J. Box

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» See also 39 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 24 (next | show all)
Book 7 Joe Pickett has been fired from his game warden job and is living with his wife's mother and spouse as a ranch foreman. He is approached by the Governor of Wyoming to find a way to find a killer guilty in a murder he committed in Yellowstone National Park. He finds a conspiracy among the park's upper echelon, along with the governor's right-hand man. Quite the adventure. Also educational in describing the volcanoes that exist in the park and their potential volatility.
Kirkus: Fired from his job as Game and Fish Warden after wrapping up his colorful sixth case (In Plain Sight, 2006), Joe Pickett returns to nab the perpetrator of the perfect crime.

According to his own confession, small-time lawyer Clay McCann, feeling bullied and insulted by four campers he encountered in Yellowstone Park, shot them dead. A ingenious technicality he’s discovered, however, prevents him from being tried and convicted. Wyoming Governor Spencer Rulon, a former prosecutor, can only slap McCann’s wrist, but he’s determined to figure out what Rick Hoening, one of the victims, meant by an email that hinted at secrets that could have a major impact on the state’s financial health. So he asks Joe, now working as foreman at his father-in-law’s ranch, to poke around the park while maintaining full deniability for the Governor. The situation stinks, but Joe’s so eager to get away from his wife’s poisonous mother and go back to his old job that he agrees, and in short order there’s a spate of new killings to deal with—some committed by McCann, some not. As usual, there’s little mystery about which of the sketchy suspects is behind the skullduggery. But, as usual, the central situation is so strong, the continuing characters so appealing and the spectacular landscape so lovingly evoked that it doesn’t matter.

Middling for this fine series, which automatically makes it one of the season’s highlights.
  bentstoker | Jan 26, 2024 |
(2007)Another very good Joe Pickett story. Joe is hired by Wyoming's governor to look into deaths at the Zone of Death in Yellowstone Natl Park. Turns out that these deaths are connected with a plot to corner the market on microbes in the active seismic region for gas conversion. The conspirators lead back to the governor's aide and Joe's friend Nate gets caught in the crossfire and is arrested at the end. KIRKUS REVIEWFired from his job as Game and Fish Warden after wrapping up his colorful sixth case (In Plain Sight, 2006), Joe Pickett returns to nab the perpetrator of the perfect crime.According to his own confession, small-time lawyer Clay McCann, feeling bullied and insulted by four campers he encountered in Yellowstone Park, shot them dead. A ingenious technicality he's discovered, however, prevents him from being tried and convicted. Wyoming Governor Spencer Rulon, a former prosecutor, can only slap McCann's wrist, but he's determined to figure out what Rick Hoening, one of the victims, meant by an email that hinted at secrets that could have a major impact on the state's financial health. So he asks Joe, now working as foreman at his father-in-law's ranch, to poke around the park while maintaining full deniability for the Governor. The situation stinks, but Joe's so eager to get away from his wife's poisonous mother and go back to his old job that he agrees, and in short order there's a spate of new killings to deal with„some committed by McCann, some not. As usual, there's little mystery about which of the sketchy suspects is behind the skullduggery. But, as usual, the central situation is so strong, the continuing characters so appealing and the spectacular landscape so lovingly evoked that it doesn't matter.Middling for this fine series, which automatically makes it one of the season's highlights.Pub Date:May 10th, 2007ISBN:0-399-15427-2Page count:288ppPublisher:PutnamReview Posted Online:May 20th, 2010Kirkus Reviews Issue:March 15th, 2007
  derailer | Jan 25, 2024 |
I think this was the best of all I have read of these so far. Interesting plot device and was never obvious what was going to happen. ( )
  infjsarah | Oct 23, 2021 |
Second time through and still my favorite out of the Joe Pickett mysteries I’ve read so far. The plot centers around the ‘Zone of Death’ – a remote corner of Yellowstone where even murder can’t be prosecuted due to a legal loophole – and the exotic thermophiles that thrive in the scalding hot springs located throughout the park. Once again I was completely hooked by the high level of tension and suspense along with the vivid descriptions of the area's natural beauty. ( )
  wandaly | Jun 3, 2021 |
★ ★ ★ 1/2 (rounded up)
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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WHAT'S FREE FIRE ABOUT?
As it appeared certain at the end of In Plain Sight, Joe was fired as a Game Warden. He's working on his father-in-law's ranch, trying to make it by (his family no longer lives in state property, either). Sure, Marybeth's business is doing pretty well, but it's not the same.

Then Governor Rulon comes calling. He liked Joe the first time they met, and he's pretty sure that Joe is the kind of straight-arrow he can count on. Someone figured out a weird loophole in the overlapping state and federal laws that govern the area of Yellowstone National Forest, and shot and killed several people and was unable to be prosecuted for it. Rulon's hands have been tied and he can't do anything about it. But he'd like Joe to go down and take a look, reporting to him, so Rulon can tell voters he looked into it.

Joe's a Game Warden again, but one at large. No one at Yellowstone is happy to have yet one more person poking around there. But Joe has a job and he's doing to do it right, no matter what feathers he ruffles.

FAMILY DRAMA
We don't get nearly enough time with the Pickett clan. Despite his hardships, things are good with Joe and Marybeth. Things could be better for the kids—because of their ages, and Joe's very public lack of a job.

Joe and the family are living in a house on Marybeth's Father-in-Law's ranch—where Joe is working. The relationship between the Father-in-Law and the Picketts is pretty strong. Maybe even stronger than the relationship between Marybeth's mother and the Picketts (the fact that Joe likes him probably accounts for a lot of that).

But it looks like things aren't all happy on the ranch—there's a lot of problems and who knows how long that'll work for everyone.

COMPETITION FOR STEPHANIE PLUM?
Not in a million years, did I think I'd compare Joe Pickett to Stephanie Plum. But this Wyoming Game Warden might be as hard on vehicles as that New Jersey bounty hunter. It's not as laughable yet, but it's getting there.

I actually enjoy it more than I'd think I would.

I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING
Now that I get to this point in the outline, I realize that there are two things I didn't see coming. The first is that here in book seven, we get a lot of Joe Pickett backstory. If you've ever wondered what Joe's childhood was like—or why we only hear about Marybeth's family, this book will tell you.

But what I meant to talk about when I wrote the headings was this: Nate Romanowski shocked me. I've talked before about Nate serving as Joe's Hawk/Joe Pike/Bubba Rogowski/Henry Standing Bear figure. We know what to expect from these figures—they're the heavies. They do the morally/legally questionable things. They're more likely to be the violent type (and more effective at the violent things anyway). But what Nate does here made me audibly gasp. I'm not saying he was wrong I just didn't expect it.

At the same time, there are things that happen to him at the beginning and end of the novel that were surprising, but they rank among the "huh, that's interesting," kind of thing, not a "what did I hear?" kind of thing.

A WORD ABOUT THE NARRATION
Actually, I don't really have anything to say here, Chandler delivers another solid job. He is the voice of Joe Pickett to me at this point. The two go together now.

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT FREE FIRE?
I thought Box did a great job of coming up with a way to keep Pickett as a Game Warden and at the same time not making Twelve Sleep, WY to have a murder-rate that rivals Cabot Cove, ME.

Putting him in Yellowstone was just icing on the cake, and the angle of this prosecution-free zone in the Park is brilliant. At this point in the series, readers know the regular cast of characters and this world—Box can lean into them—or start defying expectations—as he needs to. This is a comfortable place for fans to spend time, and judging by the number of times Pickett comes back? It stays that way. I get that and am already eager to get back to spending time with the Pickett clan. ( )
  hcnewton | Jan 11, 2021 |
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To Becky, who finally saw her bear . . . and Laurie, always
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A half-hour after Clay McCann walked into the backwoods ranger station and turned over his still-warm weapons, after he'd announced to the startled seasonal ranger behind the desk that he'd just slaughtered four campers near Robinson Lake, the nervous ranger said, "Law enforcement will be here any minute. Do you want to call a lawyer?"
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Fiction. Mystery. Suspense. Thriller. HTML:Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett hunts a mass murderer in Yellowstone in this thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author C.J. Box. 

Joe Pickettâ??s been hired to investigate one of the most cold-blooded mass killings in Wyoming history. Attorney Clay McCann admitted to slaughtering four campers in a back-country corner of Yellowstone National Parkâ??a â??free-fireâ? zone with no residents or jurisdiction. In this remote fifty-square-mile stretch a man can literally get away with murder. Now McCannâ??s a free man, and Pickettâ??s about to discover his motiveâ??one buried in Yellowstoneâ??s rugged terrain, and as dangerous as the man who

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