Blood Trail

It's elk season in the Rockies...but this year a different kind of hunter is stalking a different kind of prey. The Governor is forced to end the hunting season early for the first time in state history. That alone would drive some hunters crazy... but then it would have been the Governor that was found strung up and not some other person:) The way that C.J. Box writes about the mountains in the west is a beautiful piece of work an very well done...you can tell that he loves the wilderness...but his character of Joe Pickett must be the busiest Game Warden in the country. This is the 8th book in the series and I've read 3 before this one, and have found the murders are a bit repetitive. The narrative alternates between the searchers and show more the killer...whose identity will keep readers guessing up to the very end. What I do like about the series and Mr. Box, is that he takes care and the time to present both sides of the controversial issue of hunting. Well done on that Mr. Box. show less

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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WHAT'S BLOOD TRAIL ABOUT?
Since Governor Rulon re-hired Joe Pickett and made him sort of a Game Warden-at-Large, his life has improved—he and Marybeth have their own home, no longer living in State housing, or at his father-in-law's. Nor is he really as subject to the whims of Randy Pope, his director. But there's a price to be paid for this: he's pretty much at Rulon's beck and call.

This time, thankfully, he's called to his former territory—a hunter has been found dead. It's the beginning of Elk Season, so it's not that surprising. But...this isn't your typical dead hunter. This man has been shot and field dressed like an elk. Joe's garnered a reputation for stumbling into a show more solution for things like this, and Rulon needs that quickly—people are getting antsy about the killings and pressure is mounting to cancel Elk Season (which would have horrible consequences on Wyoming's economy). Joe's been named to a task force with the FBI, and the local sheriff. Not only are they out to preserve hunting season, but they also need to head off a mounting anti-hunting protest movement that is taking advantage of this situation.

Randy Pope decides that this is important enough that he comes to supervise Joe personally—and takes an oddly active and proactive role in fieldwork (which no one has ever accused him of being fit for). I don't know about anyone else who reads this series, but there isn't a time that Randy Pope has been around when I haven't wanted Joe to punch him in the nose (or Marybeth, or Sheridan even), and that's taken to the nth degree for most of this book.

So not only does Joe have to find a killer (not really his job, ubt he seems good at it) for political and social reasons, he has to put up with antagonism from local law enforcement who resent his role, get micromanaged by an officious twerp who is even less suited for this than he is, and he ends up having to deal with two individuals from his past that he'd rather expected never to have to deal with again over the course of the investigation. I'm not going to identify these people, but neither Joe or Marybeth are prepared to have them in their lives again, frankly, I wasn't ready either.

WE SHOULD TALK ABOUT NATE
I get into a spoiler in a vague way here. Feel free to skip to the next header.

For various and sundry spoilery reasons, Joe decides that he needs Nate Romanowski's tracking help. Now, Nate's been in FBI custody for a few months, ever since the FBI double-crossed Joe at the end of Free Fire. Given the urgent nature of things, Rulon is able to finagle a release into Joe's custody.

And then Nate ditches Joe for days. Joe, the good friend, covers for him (he's also covering for himself and his own ability to maintain custody). Sure, he ultimately comes back and pitches in. But it's pretty clear he didn't need that much time to do his thing—I get that Nate has his own way of working and that Nate isn't that terribly concerned with people who aren't him (what does he care if someone's killing hunters?)—but he should care about his friend and the deal that got him out of custody, right?

I lost a lot of sympathy for Nate here. And a good deal for Joe, too, later in the book when it comes to Nate.

A LOW-STAKES ANTAGONIST
Now that Joe lives in town, in a normal house with a yard and no need to consult a government budget officer for upkeep on his home, it falls to Joe to take care of things. He has a neighbor now (I forget his name, one of the hazards of audiobooks is that I can't look it up easily). This man is retired and is far too concerned with his own yard and upkeep, and carries that over to Joe's.

We don't spend a lot of time with him, but it's easy to see that he's a burr in Joe's side—a constant problem, a constant annoyance. Sure, Joe's off working for the governor and trying to stop a killer, but surely he could take the time to mow his lawn, like a decent citizen.

This book needed a little lightness, and this crank delivers it.

A WORD ABOUT THE NARRATION
At this point, I really don't know what to say about David Chandler, he's great at this.

However, ,I have one thing to say. For most of the book, I assumed the killer was one of two people. And despite the fact that we get the killer's POV frequently, it was still pretty unclear which one of the two it was (assuming I was right). Until about halfway through in one scene, Chandler makes 1 choice when he reads one line. And we "hear" the character in a voice Chandler would use for that character, not just the generic Killer's POV voice he'd been using throughout. And then I knew exactly who it was.

I understand why he made that choice. But, man. It ruined things a little bit for me.

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT BLOOD TRAIL?
This was, hands down, my favorite entry in the series. The tension, the huge character events, the motive for the crime, and the way it ended...I can't explain all my reasoning without ruining the novel.

But man...this is the standard I'll be judging books in this series by. Is it going to be that impactful for new readers? No, but it would work as a jumping-on point if you're not in the mood to read the seven previous books.

Blood Trail is a great entry in this solid series, with entries like this, it's easy to see why it's lasted for twenty-one (so far) books. Check it out. show less

A man is murdered and left on gruesome display while he is out hunting. It turns out this murder is connected to a few others in the area and it seems like hunters are being targeted specifically. Joe has been asked by the governor to investigate the case. Joe finds that this case isn’t as simple as plain ole’ murder and ultimately more lives are lost before it becomes clear who is behind these attacks.

It is interesting (and a little humorous) that an outside expert was brought in to help solve this case, but it takes Nate Romanowski’s help to make any real progress. At the start of the story, Nate is in prison while he is awaiting trial. I love the way Joe stuck his neck out for Nate and I love that Nate always returns the favor. show more I truly, truly hope these two will keep working together for the rest of this series. There's one particular scene (no spoilers) involving Joe and Nate and a drive in Joe's truck, and it made me laugh out loud.

One of the overarching themes in this story is hunting vs anti-hunting, but of course the story is a lot more complicated than that. I started to write here about how it was really interesting to me that C.J. Box allowed his characters to discuss temporarily halting hunting in Wyoming in order to fully investigate the murders and to prevent any further loss of life, but my thoughts were rambling and spoilery. Certainly preventing hunting is a huge economic risk to a state like Wyoming, and while (on the surface) it seems like some characters cared more about money than they did the loss of life, I don't believe that's really the case.

The first time I tried to read this one, I had a hard time getting into it and couldn’t make it past the first few chapters. I’m going to chalk that up to having my attention focused on the pandemic #stayathome craziness that had just started up. The second time I picked up the book, a few days ago, I flew through it like I normally do and I’m eager to read the next one as soon as my husband finishes with it.

Audiobook Notes: I’ve been singing the praises of the Joe Pickett audiobooks the entire time I’ve been reading them and it is 100% due to David Chandler’s impeccable narration. The way he reads Nate’s character is THE BEST.

Title: Blood Trail by C.J. Box
Series: Joe Pickett #8
Narrator: David Chandler
Length: 9 hours, 5 minutes, Unabridged
Publisher: Recorded Books show less

As well as Joe Pickett and his family and friends. Blood Trail is a heck of a good book with plenty of action, thrills, suspense and mystery and most of all a great whodunit! I never saw the ending come and had it all figured out wrong which is rare for me. Love Blood Trail!

Mr. Box weaves such a wicked tale of love, lies, revenge and secrets that will totally captivate you. Blood Trail is not what it seems to be at first and Mr. Box takes you on a heck of ride till the very last page. Then it just hits you!!

Joe Pickett and his family are an essential part of every novel without over doing it you look forward to each novel to see how the family has grown and matured, just like you were part of his family. Mr. Box's descriptive writing of show more Wyoming and it's parks is amazing and gives you a description that is so easy to visualize. Many authors cannot do that but Mr. Box does it so effortlessly and so well.

Support characters of Nate Romanowski and Governor Rulon are expertly written and described. I hope that Mr. Box will write a book about Nate Romanowski and his earlier years that keep hinting at who or what he is. But in the meantime, Blood Trail is a really good book and I will definitely recommend it to others!! show less

I do enjoy these books, even though they get a little repetitive. This one, I figured out who the killer was almost as soon as we gained a bit of information about them, so about 2/3 of the way through. Hunting doesn't really interest me, although I don't have a moral stance on hunting for food. Trophy hunting I think is ridiculous. So all the back and forth about the morality of hunting was actually not that compelling to me. The villains in Box's books are always kind of cardboard, but I like the wilderness scenes and I felt a certain sympathy for the killer.

Another book in a fun series. This plot was a bit more wonky, and the violence was on the gory side, but Joe's character continues to evolve with the reality on the ground. The author brings the justice that his audience wants rather than the one that is the solution to the mystery.

A serial killer is hunting down, murdering and butchering hunters in Wyoming’s Big Horn Mountains. Joe Pickett, now special agent/game warden for the governor, is assigned to the hunt for the killer.

That’s it--that’s the plot. But in this, his 8th and best in the Joe Pickett series, C.J. Box delivers a very fine police procedural with a nice plot twist. Box always has some Western issue at the heart of his novels; this time, it’s the ethics of hunting. As usual, he tries to illuminate both sides of the issue, although I think this is one of his weaker attempts in that regard.

Still, it’s an excellent story and well-written. As a writer, Box has come a long way since his first books. Many familiar characters return, and by this show more time I think all of us who follow the series could get to the Pard-O-Burger restaurant in Saddlestring, Wyoming and make a decent attempt at finding elk in the mountains.

Nate Romanowski, a falconer with a secret past, returns. Box uses him as he always does to present the view for “vigilante justice”--when The System does not seem to work and when there is a powerful emotional case to dispensing justice outside of the law. It’s a little more disturbing in this book than in others, but it’s a point of view and does not detract from the entertainment value of the book.

Highly recommended. show less