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

Booklist Review: Every few years a first novel appears that immediately sets itself apart from the crowd. As readers, we feel that special shock of recognition that announces, “Here is something special.” Taking dead aim with his first sentence (“When a high-powered rifle hits living flesh it makes a distinctive--pow-WHOP--sound that is unmistakable even at tremendous distance”), Wyoming first-novelist Box remains square on target throughout this superb debut. Joe Pickett, game warden of Twelve Sleep County in Wyoming, is just the kind of everyman hero we can’t help but identify with: something of a plodder, even a bit of a bungler (he loses his gun to a poacher in the novel’s opening scene), he is nevertheless the kind of show more man who responds to a crisis with courage and the ability to act decisively (just the way we like to think we would respond). And Joe faces a major-league crisis in his rookie year as game warden: when three elk hunters are killed under suspicious circumstances (one of them dies in the warden’s backyard, apparently on his way to deliver something), Joe can’t understand why his colleagues seem to want to sweep the case under the rug. When he looks under that rug, however, he finds a many-tentacled scam involving an oil pipeline and an endangered species. Soon Joe’s career is in jeopardy and his family in mortal danger. The plot is constructed with airtight precision, generating remarkable suspense while drawing us completely into a vividly realized world. The Wyoming high country is a palpable presence here; its ruggedness plays a crucial role in the story, and its grandeur is continually set against the venality of most human concerns. The endangered-species theme, often a plot element is crime fiction, is explored with impressive complexity and no shortage of villains on all sides of the issue. And, best of all, the soft-spoken Joe Pickett is a Gary Cooper for our time: flawed, insecure, but a stand-up guy when it counts--the perfect mix of dream and reality. Open Season will please both mystery buffs and mainstream fiction readers; give it with confidence to anyone who likes either Nevada Barr or Ivan Doig.
(Reviewed May 1, 2001) -- Bill Ott 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

I enjoy mysteries set in rural/small town settings. I just found this series and it's a good one. And, you can't get more rural than out in the frickin woods in Wyoming! Well, yes, there is a small town, Saddlestring, nearby.
Joe Pickett is a game warden with a family. A good man, with a good family, trying to do his job. His work keeps getting him mixed in with various murder mysteries. I like the series a lot.

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.

A great debut novel which sets up family conflicts and obligations and not just the usual solve the problem find the murder story line. This novel introduces “Joe Pickett” Wyoming game warden. Joe is a man of the “West”, a family man who honors his work obligations and his kin. In this novel there is the additional focus of his enjoyment of his daughters and struggles to be a good father and husband as well as the real live tragedies that effect families and his ability as a husband to deal with them. The author has wonderful conversations between relations. There are real conflicts that we all can identify with sometimes between life long friends and mentors. He paints a vivid picture of life in the rural west. How close yet show more how far apart those relationships can be. A quote from the book – “Then Joe’s entire consciousness, his entire being, focused on one simple question: would he die with his eyes open or closed.” The real western conflict of locals trying to make a living and the conflict of federal laws including endangered species act. This is a good series and well worth reading. show less