Force of Nature (A Joe Pickett Novel) [Hardcover]

C. J. Box (Author)

Book Description

Release date: March 20, 2012 | Series: A Joe Pickett Novel

A Library Journal Best Mystery of 2012

He never wanted to tell Joe Pickett about it, but Nate Romanowski always knew trouble was coming out of his past. Now it's here, and it may not only be the battle of his life-but of Joe's.

In 1995, Nate was in a secret Special Forces unit abroad when a colleague did something terrible. Now high up in the government, the man is determined to eliminate anyone who knows about it, and Nate knows exactly how he'll do it-by striking at Nate's friends to draw him out. The entire Pickett family will be a target, and the only way to fight back is outside the law. Nate knows he can do it, but he isn't sure about his straight-arrow friend-and all their lives could depend on it.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A rush…an excellent wilderness adventure…a violent, bloody, and quite satisfying thriller.”—New York Times Book Review

“Strap yourselves in, C. J. Box fans…”—Madison County (MS) Herald

“Proceeds at warp speed.”—The Denver Post

“Moves like greased lightning.”—Kirkus Reviews

“A master…Box’s readership will only increase with his latest page turner. Another amazing thriller from C. J. Box.”—The Associated Press

“Perhaps the best in the series.”—San Jose Mercury News

“Violent…Those who love Box’s stunning set pieces will be in heaven.”—Booklist (starred review)

“Absolutely riveting…This is the best Box I’ve ever read, and I’ve read them all.”—Library Journal (starred review)

“Reliably brilliant…never to be forgotten.”—Bookreporter

“A breakthrough book.”—Fort Worth Star-Telegram

“Brilliant in every respect…Box is a force to reckoned with.”—Providence Sunday Journal

“Edgar®-winner Box’s breakneck 12th Joe Pickett novel…especially impressive…[a] superior entry.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Atmospheric…last-minute tension.”—The Cleveland Plain Dealer

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

About the Author

C. J. Box is the author of twelve Joe Pickett novels and three stand-alones, and has won the Edgar, Anthony, Macavity, Gumshoe, and Barry awards, as well as the French Prix Calibre .38 and a French Elle magazine literary award. His books have been translated into twenty-five languages. He lives outside Cheyenne, Wyoming, with his family.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult; 1 edition (March 20, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9780399158261
• ISBN-13: 978-0399158261
• ASIN: 039915826X
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (152 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #39,649 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

C. J. Box is the author of the award-winning Joe Pickett series of novels, including Open Season (2001), Savage Run (2002), Winterkill (2003), Trophy Hunt (2004), Out of Range (2005) and the upcoming In Plain Sight (May, 2006). He's the winner of the Anthony Award, Prix Calibre 38 Award (France), the Macavity Award, the Gumshoe Award, the Barry Award, and an Edgar Award and L.A. Times Book Prize finalist. Open Season was a New York Times Notable Book and three of the novels have been Booksense 76 picks.


The novels have been national bestsellers and have been translated into 12 languages.


Box is a Wyoming native and has worked as a ranch hand, surveyor, fishing guide, a small town newspaper reporter and editor, and he co-owns an international tourism marketing firm with his wife, Laurie. An avid outdoorsman, Box has hunted, fished, hiked, ridden, and skied throughout Wyoming and the Mountain West. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo.


Box lives with his family outside of Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#25 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery

#30 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery

#56 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers

#59 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

#66 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers

#25 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery

#30 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery

#56 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers

#59 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

#66 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A natural choice for thriller lovers March 20, 2012

By NoGoodDeed VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

CJ Box's latest Joe Pickett thriller features Joe's friend Nate Romanowski, the ex-Special Forces soldier and falconer who's helped Joe escape several recent scrapes. In "Force Of Nature" Nate is on the hot seat when he learns that his former commander John Nemecek, now a government big wig, intends to hunt down and eliminate the members of their unit in Afghanistan from years ago, before a shameful and deadly secret gets out. When Nate goes on the run and disappears, ditching his home and most of his possessions, including his falcon, he also leaves three bodies behind, whom he's killed in self-defense. With his prey in the wind, Nemecek targets Nate's friend Joe and his family in order to force Nate out into the open. Meanwhile Joe and his new game warden partner and trainee have been drafted into the murder investigation by Sheriff Kyle McLanahan, with whom Joe has tangled in the past. The action in this book is non-stop, and the conflict between helping Nate and protecting his own family adds an extra level of tension to Joe's problems. Joe Pickett's many fans will naturally want to pick this one up.
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.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A question answered ... finally. March 26, 2012

By MED TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Force of Nature is the latest C.J. Box thriller. His stories usually feature Joe Pickett, and while Pickett is present this story is about his enigmatic friend - Nate Romanowski.

Nate has been a presence in the Pickett household for years. But the questions abound - why does he live off the grid? where is he from? what happened to produce the quiet, but lethal man he is?

Force of Nature fills in the back story as Nate is forced to confront the man who made him what he is and face the past. Nate's long love of falconry is front and center to the story and Box laces the history through the story.

Nate's adversary is smart, brutal, violent and without a conscience. Nate's friends, including Joe Pickett and his family, along with friends from the reservation are pulled into the inevitable confrontation.

The storytelling is pure Box - the backdrop of Wyoming and the Northwest provide the perfect backdrop. There is graphic violence, but necessary to the story. The tension builds perfectly.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Nate Romanowski's Past Revealed, But Not as Satisfying As I'd Hoped June 23, 2012

By James N Simpson

Format:Hardcover

The 12th novel in the Joe Pickett series concentrates for the majority of the word count on his eccentric friend and falconry enthusiast Nate Romanowski, although Joe is forced to take on a new trainee. If you've read the former novels in the series, you'd know Nate's past has been hinted at time and time again. Why are the Five after him? What shameful act is he supposed to have done in his former career that has made him punish himself and live the way he does over the years the previous novels have been set? Joe hasn't wanted to know so only minor bits have ever leaked out on the former novel pages. This time round Box reveals it all as Nate is forced to go head to head in an only one can survive scenario with his hunter who he has eluded all this time.

I'm not going to give away any of those answers as that's the whole point of this novel. But I have to say after all the anticipation from the series so far I found his past to be pretty mediocre. I was expecting something bigger, something more. The book itself was also pretty predictable, how you imagine this is going to turn out is exactly how it does.

You could read this as a standalone reading experience without having read the former novels but I you won't get as much out of it as you do if you know the characters and have a desire to want to know what is revealed in this one.