20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Blood Trail is bloody great, May 21, 2008
In my opinion, Joe Pickett is becoming one of the great characters of modern American crime fiction, approaching the likes of Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch and even James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux. All of them are strong but vulnerable, stubborn, idealistic, and singularly unimpressed with the bureaucrats and politicians they must sometimes answer to. They're also distinct renegades unafraid to buck the system when justice demands it. In "Blood Trail", the eighth Joe Pickett novel, the Wyoming game warden is forced to work with his nemesis and so-called boss Randy Pope, the soulless head of the game and fish department who fired Pickett in "In Plain Sight." They're appointed by the governor to investigate a series of murders - beginning with the gutted, flayed and beheaded body of a hunter found hanging in a tree - that may have been orchestrated by a fanatical anti-hunting activist. As always, CJ Box expertly evokes the beauty and majesty of his native Wyoming in "Blood Trail", and also presents both sides of the hunting vs animal rights issue without intruding on the story. I think this is one of the more exciting Joe Pickett novels, and it is beautifully written to boot.
Also recommended:
A Stranger Lies There - winner of the Malice Domestic Award for best first mystery, it features a vivid desert backdrop that should please fans of CJ Box's colorful Wyoming settings.
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
3.5 Stars- Great writer; not his best book, July 2, 2008
BLOOD TRAIL (Licensed Invest-Joe Pickett-Wyoming-Cont) - G+
Box, C.J. - 9th in series
Putnam, 2008 - US Hardcover - ISBN: 9780399154881
First Sentence: I am a hunter, a bestower of dignity.
Joe Pickett, now working director for the Governor of Wyoming, is called to go to a murder scene where an elk hunter has been murdered and his body treated like the quarry he sought. This isn't the first such killing.
The Governor puts Joe on the multi-agency investigation, in spite of the antipathy between him and his former boss, Randy Pope. While dealing with a killer and more deaths, Joe has to find out if the appearance in Wyoming of anti-hunting radical Klamath Moore is involved.
In order to track down the killer, Joe persuades the Governor to release his friend, and expert tracker, Nate Romanowski, who is being held in federal prison awaiting trial.
Joe Pickett is a character I really like and it is clear Box knows him well. Pickett is strongly tied to his small, nuclear family of wife and two daughters, he's loyal to his friends, and believes in what he does. One character also made the observation that Pickett cares more for the dead than he does for the living, both animals and humans. All the elements of the story emphasize these points.
Box does get a bit preach-y when it comes to the distinction of true hunters who how respect the land and animals versus ego hunters and town dwellers, but I also felt he made some good points.
What did disappoint me, and thus lowered my rating, was the obvious nature of some of the clues. I knew where the story was going way too early. I was also disappointed in the direction he took with the character of Nate. The book is violent but it's also quite suspenseful.
Box is a very talented writer; I find his book stay with me long after I've closed the covers. I'm a still a fan and look forward to seeing where Box is taking his characters.
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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent police procedural, May 24, 2008
Joe Pickett loved being the game warden of the Saddlestring District, but he was fired by Randy Pope, the Wyoming State Director. Now he is a troubleshooter for the governor and a substitute for game wardens throughout the state who are ill or on vacation. Currently it is elk hunting season; one of the hunters has been killed, skinned, and found tied upside down to a tree branch missing his head.
The governor wants Joe to find the perpetrator before he is forced to close state lands from hunters and ask the Feds to do likewise. Unlike his usual on the job distant professionalism, Pope is hands on leading the investigation. When they go into the woods tracking the killer, he is missing though his friend is there as back-up. The tracker is killed. At about the same time shots are fired and Randy's friend dies. Activist Klamath Moore, some feds feels terrorist is more descriptive, and his wife Shannon arrive in town stirring up those people against hunting because he believes killing animals for sports is ethically apprehensible. Joe begins to figure out what is going on when he gets his friend Nate released from federal custody but he doesn't want to believe where the evidence points. .
The Joe Pickett police procedurals are unique action-packed thrillers starring a hero who thinks outside of the box, which is why he lost his job. The villain is multifaceted as he is leaving a message behind for hunters who will NRA the killer with disdain and readers who will feel sorry for that person. However, this is Joe's series and he is determined to bring justice to the killer knowing that this time it will hurt badly as he sympathizes with the culprit and believes he may know the person. Using a secondary character, C .J. Box also warns the audience that the natural beauty of the parks are in jeopardy by those whose strategic planning is less than fifteen minutes as instant satisfaction is all that matters.
Harriet Klausner
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