Open Season

Describing a thriller/mystery as "quietly entertaining" may seem perverse but it was the overall impression I was left with. Joe Pickett and his family are good people who work hard, try to do the right thing and be the best family they can.

Joe works as Warden in a Wyoming State Park. It's a low wage job, with long hours and many opportunities to come into conflict with your (always armed and not always sober) neighbours who object to being ticketed for hunting violations. He and his pregnant wife are raising two daughters in the small, isolated house, that comes with the job.

Things go from challenging to life-threatening when Joe gets tangled up in a mystery involving a dead man in his backyard and outfitters shot dead in their show more camp.

Joe is a quiet man, calm in a crisis and slow to anger. I found watching him work out what is really going on is surprisingly calming.

The thriller aspects of the book are well done. There is a real sense of menace, especially in the scenes with Joe's oldest daughter, and some very violent confrontations that are dealt with unflinchingly. There is also death and loss and poverty and corruption.

Yet at the heart of it is Joe and his family and you know they will stand strong.

I enjoyed the outdoor feel of the book, which takes the time to describe the landscape and sunshine instead of just rushing on with the plot. This is necessary to take in the sheer scale of Wyoming.

This is the start of a series of books. I'll be reaching for the next one when I want to be in the company of a good man doing difficult things as well as he can. show less

Easy reading but none the less compelling. My friend Jane M recommended this series and so here I am. Joe is honest, loyal, strong and a good family man. This book demonstrates his moral courage and the corruption in small town Wyoming when the locals are trying to squelch the rumor that there is an endangered species in their community that would nix an oil pipeline in their area that would provide needed jobs.

Since I ran out of Mike Bowditch books to read, I sought out another game warden. Who knew this was even a thing, let alone a whole genre with dozens of books. Anyway, this one was a bit bland. While Mike was infuriating, Joe is just dull. It takes a while for things to get going, and the writing isn't as good either. The politics also slant precipitously to the right, which I suppose makes sense given the Wyoming setting, vs. the relatively liberal Maine.

The common feature is the lack of communications tech. Although published in 2001, it seems that cellphones and sat phones and radios haven't been invented yet, and the only way to talk to someone is via a landline.

Things did pick up somewhat at the end, enough that I'm willing to show more give the second book a go. show less

SO SO SO GOOD.

Joe Pickett is a Wyoming game warden, just an all-around good guy. He doesn't seem to have any major baggage or drama that he carries to work with him. He doesn't seem to habitually bend the rules or laws in his pursuit of justice, or at least not yet. These are some of the features that I love about many of the detective and crime series that I love to read. (I'm looking at you, Harry Bosch.) But in this first Pickett book, I found that Joe Pickett really loves his job, he loves the land and animals that he protects, and he wants his family to respect him for what he does. He's a regular guy.

Joe also isn't known for being a sharpshooter or one of "tough-guy" types, which is interesting given the way the story begins and show more the way everything unfolds, but I'm handing out no spoilers here. But this was neat and different and refreshing for me. Again, a regular guy.

I love the premise of the story, the way CJ Box marries endangered animals, big game hunting, and the environment into the plot. This is a really cool modern western/suspense-thriller with some really bad guys and I loved every second of it, especially toward the end when the scenes were most intense. I maintain that I typically do not love kids in a plot line unless they're really well done but MY WORD Pickett's 7-year-old daughter Sheridan is dynamite. She was so delightful in this story and became a fast favorite as I listened. She was essential to the plot, she moved the story forward, and I wanted to know more about her. I loved her time on the pages and she was just a cool, cool kid.

I picked up this series to begin with because I love the Wyoming country so much. I've taken these huge road trips from my own place here in Eastern North Carolina across the US twice now, and a big part of both of those trips was spent in Wyoming. It is no exaggeration that I think about that land and want to be back there almost every single day. CJ Box has put me right back there with his descriptions of the land and the nature. If I can't be there in person, being there with this book and audiobook is very, very cool.

I very rarely read books in a series close together or back-to-back, but I immediately bought the second audiobook and made sure to have the next two Pickett books on hand. I'm not sure if I love Joe Pickett more or the setting, but either way, I feel like I'm throwing everything aside so I can keep going.

Audiobook Notes: At first, I wasn't sure how I would enjoy David Chandler as the voice of Joe Pickett. Honestly, he doesn't have the most "tough guy" voice that I've ever heard and I thought Pickett was supposed to be this big game warden out of Wyoming, so I was expecting something maybe a little heavier or deeper. However, by the end of the first scene and within the first few chapters, as I began to get to know Joe, I realized that David Chandler is so perfect for this role. He was also so great when he was reading little Sheridan's parts too.

By the end of the book, I had researched the entire audiobook series to see if Mr. Chandler continues to narrate because I enjoyed it so much, so I feel pretty sure that I'll continue listening from Audible since the narrator has not changed. Well worth the credit I used for this purchase.

Title: Open Season by C.J. Box
Series: Joe Pickett #1
Narrated by: David Chandler
Publisher: Recorded Books
Length: 7 hours, 49 minutes, Unabridged show less

Dear Sheriff Longmire, please don't be mad at me for cheating on you with another Wyoming lawman. He meant nothing to me, I swear!

I was set up on a blind date with Joe Pickett, Saddleback Game Warden and family man. We had a good time. I mean, Joe is lawful good, to an extreme. He's a good husband, father, and morally in the right. Plus Wyoming is always a good time for an outdoors-lovin' girl like me. The mystery was solid and I will continue the series, but I think Joe and I will remain "just friends". My heart belongs to the more impulsive, mature, and headstrong Walt Longmire. He's the Wyoming lawman for me.

I just didn't get into Joe like I do Walt. Joe is a bit of a sad sack. I need my book boyfriends to be strong and confident. show more If you have ever read the Hamish Macbeth series, Joe reminded my of him. Likable, but not someone to fall in love with. Anyway, I will continue hanging out with Joe when I have some downtime, because why not? show less

The first book in the succesful series is overlong, overwritten, and predictable, although the Wyoming setting is quite well done. A little too paint-by-numbers for my liking. The actions of the bad guy toward the end of the book don't make a lot of sense if he is trying to get away with the crime.

Game of Wardens
Review of the 15th Anniversary Putnam's Sons paperback edition incl. author's new Foreword (May 2016) of the Putnam's original hardcover (May 2001)

I was spoiled for reading Open Season due to having already seen the first season of the Joe Pickett TV-series, which is largely based on this first book of the 'game warden in Wyoming' series. The adaptation was so well done though, that I was intrigued enough to want to read the source material and that did not disappoint either.

See poster at https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BOTBiMmM2OTgtMGE4MS00NTE4LTlkMzAtMDU2NmJh...
Poster for the Joe Pickett TV series (December 2021). Image sourced from IMDb.

I have a bit of an extra positive bias about game wardens, as up until show more retirement I worked in the natural resources field in Canada which covered the same hunting & fishing issues as does Pickett's job in Wyoming. I was strictly finance & planning, but I did at least get a chance to work a few years 'in the field' as we used to call it.

I enjoyed Open Season and it felt especially authentic to me with its themes of trying to balance issues such as endangered species, natural resources exploitation and the sustainability of the environment. The human side of the story was also well handled with the portrayals of the Pickett family. The dramatic events of the TV-series were greatly increased over the book with an extra level of villains, but first time author Box also had a few tricks to keep you guessing in the book version.

I read the 15th anniversary edition of this first book of the still ongoing series (22 books and counting) which includes Box's new Foreword which explains his genesis of the character and even the real-life basis for the endangered species sub-plot. I definitely plan to read more Joe Pickett in the future.

Trivia and Link
The TV-series adaptation of the Joe Pickett novels premiered in December 2021. Season One was an adaptation of the 1st novel Open Season and the 3rd novel Winterkill in which the plots were partially merged. A trailer can be viewed on YouTube here. show less