Customer Reviews

Free Fire

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When local attorney Clay McCann walks away scot-free after murdering four campers because of a loophole in the law governing Yellowstone National Park, maverick Wyoming Governor Spencer Rulon decides he needs to institute his own investigation into the matter. Rulon approaches former Wyoming Game Warden Joe Pickett (check out Box's previous novel OUT OF SIGHT for the details behind Joe's firing) with a simple proposal: he will reinstate Joe as a game warden if he agrees to look into things at Yellowstone. Depressed since losing his job, Pickett readily agrees.

Pickett throws himself headlong into the investigation, persevering despite the lack of cooperation from park residents and local law enforcement. Digging into the details, Pickett comes to realize that the campers' death was meant to hide a conspiracy to exploit natural resources unique to Yellowstone; he also realizes that the desperate conspirators will not hesitate to add to their kill count in order to conceal their perfidy.

FREE FIRE is a fascinating example of how an author takes an idea and turns it into a full-blown novel. The inspiration for the book came from, of all places, a Georgetown Law Review article by Michigan State law professor Brian C. Kalt. That piece, titled "The Perfect Crime", posited the notion that one could literally get away with murder inside the confines of Yellowstone National Park. The theory, picked up on by media outlets such as the BBC and NPR, was brought to author Box's attention by helpful readers and friends. He was immediately struck by the possibilities.

The desire to do a Yellowstone book had its origins in Box's deep affection for the park, a love which comes from a profound familiarity with Yellowstone and its origins. Box, who has been to Yellowstone over 50 times in his life, has hiked and fished all over the park, including some very remote locations. He's also gotten to know both park rangers and employees, and can thus appreciate their special bond and connection to Yellowstone.

Box's familiarity with the park certainly shows, as reading FREE FIRE is as much a learning experience as it is a wild thrill ride of a mystery novel. Besides the customary mayhem that can be found in a Pickett novel, readers learn, among other things, about Yellowstone's unique culture, and, surprisingly, that Yellowstone is actually a dormant volcano. They also learn of the research that Yellowstone has inspired in the biotech field--there are attributes and organisms in the park that have caught the attention of scientists around the world, although the uses Box posits in FREE FIRE are speculative.

Of course, when it came time to explore these ideas in a novel, it was natural for Box to use Wyoming Game Warden Joe Pickett as his fictional "point man." The star of a best-selling and critically acclaimed series that has now reached its seventh installment, Pickett is at heart a simple "everyman" who tries to do what is right, whether it be on the job or in his private life. The conflicts he faces on his job provide the meat and gristle for Box's hard hitting novels; the challenges he faces in his personal life give him a grounding and depth unique in mystery fiction. Combined, the conflicts and challenges provide for great reading from the pen of the self described "novelist of the contemporary west."

This was the first C.J. Box book that I had read, initially purchased because I love Yellowstone Park, as well as the fact that the author painted a picture in my mind that was one of reality, scenic splendor, humor, with a fair share of good ol mystery.

The author nailed down details that many would over look, however as a Montana native and someone who lives and breaths the outdoors and Yellowstone, it was a novelty to read a a story that was realistic. Box shares details of the park, Fish, Wildlife and Parks and local color all mixed into a story that holds your attention from the first page.

Joe Picket takes a job for the Governor, investigating a group of murders committed by a local lawyer in a section of the park that is not governed by normal laws. Joe, as usual, gets sucked into the murder and mayhem. Soon his friend Nate is on the scene to provide backup, humor, and the occasional violent out burst, such as removing ears! Armed with his enormous gun, Nate and Joe set out to make everything right again. Only first, Joe must deal with finding his father there, someone who he has not scene or spoken to in decades. It all comes to a climax at the amazing Old Faithful Lodge, were the author captures the lodges beauty and presence.

A must read! Even if you have never read another Joe Picket novel from C.J. Box. You will be hooked and find yourself online ordering the entire series. Having said that, I have purchased and read them all several times. This author writes in a timeless and flawless manor, you will find yourself right next to the hero, experiencing and seeing what he does.

As a reader of Nevada Barr's books, I was interested to read a book by C.J. Box who also uses the National Parks setting. This was a quick read and I enjoyed it. He did highlight the park setting, especially the beauty and huge scale of the Mammoth Hotel and the Old Faithful Inn. It was fascinating learning about the geology of the area. I was taken aback by the ending of the book, it felt like it was cut short, but my interest has been sparked in learning more about bio-mining and microbes and coal seams. Maybe I will read a few more of C.J.'s mysteries.

Attorney Clay McCann walked into the Bechler River Ranger Station in Yellowstone National Park holding a still warm weapon while informing the ranger that about a half hour ago he killed four campers. A few months later Wyoming Governor Spencer Rulon visits former State Game and Fish Department Game Warden Joe Pickett, who was fired by the agency's Director Randy Pope (see IN PLAIN SIGHT), at the ranch of Joe's father-n-law to ask a favor. Though McCann got away with murder on a technicality, Rulon shows him a note from one of the victims just before he was murdered that implies the illegal stealing of resources that could impact the revenues of the state. He wants to look into whatever this "Yellowstone Dick" was alluding to as a state has no jurisdiction in a national park.

Joe begins his quiet investigation with the help of his friend falconer Nate Romanowski. They soon obtain the assistance of park ranger Judy Demming, who like most of her peers remains reeling that the cold blooded killer freely roams Yellowstone while four caring environmentalists are dead. They begin to find a link between the homicides and questionable bio-mining rights that would destroy Yellowstone's famous hot springs, but McCann and his partners do not mind adding three more murders to their count.

In his seventh Joe Pickett mystery, C. J. Box is at his best as he describes the "Stone" with adulation for its exquisiteness while also using a loophole over jurisdiction between the Feds and the state. The story line is fast-paced as Joe and his teammates begin to uncover the contemptuous illegal waste of natural renounces to make a profit without regard by stripping the beauty from the "Stone". Fans and environmentalists (except perhaps the EPA political appointees) will appreciate FREE FIRE as Joe investigates as a private citizen what some amoral avaricious antagonists are doing to make millions.

Harriet Klausner

This is the seventh in the Joe Pickett series for Box, and I found this installment to be a more enjoyable read than some of the earlier volumes.

First off, its set in Yellowstone National Park, and who doesn't like to read about geysers and hot springs and all the animals that inhabit the park. The Free Fire zone or Zone of Death was a new twist that I had never heard about and provided an interesting and intriguing twist to law enforcement.

Of course, Joe is always on the side of law and order, and wants to do the right thing as well and find the truth and punish the bad guys. Here we are not disappointed.

The excerpts from the Yellowstone Act were of particular interest and I'm sure they were quoted verbatim. The scenario of a serial killer getting away with murder was quite a twist to an old plot. Who doesn't want to commit the perfect crime for which one cannot be held accountable?

But Joe and his friends, especially the elusive Nate Romanowski, do not let little things like threats and conspiracies stop them from taking charge and getting the job done.

There is very little humor in this book, but what there is is dark and fits into the overall storyline. I was pleased to see that Joe had moved on from being the Game Warden in one section of Wyoming, after all, you can only have so many murders and conspiracies in one section of the country, and spread his uncanny abilities to get to the bottom of the problem by moving out from his comfort zone.

All in all a good read. I'm wondering where Joe will go next; will he stay a special investigator or go back to being a Game Warden? We can only hope that Box will keep Joe as he is, an honest man, doing an honest day's work for an organization he believes in. Or, has he seen the cracks in the system, and will he go a different direction for truth and justice?

I heard Mr. Box do a radio interview, and I was quite impressed, eager to get started on one of his books. Perhaps I picked poorly, but when the time came to read, I was in a small town at a smaller bookstore and did not have much choice.

While I greatly enjoyed the author's descriptions of winter in Yellowstone with its dangerous and indifferent landscape, I was increasingly put off by his disjointed and wildly implausible plot. The nonchalance and frequency with which his characters shot at each other was a poor excuse for plot manipulation. Their machinations were inscrutable, less believable and less interesting than the array of wildlife that nosed around the edge of the action.

I'm not giving up on Box and Pickett, but if you're looking for an engaging and action-packed read in this particular instance of his work, just know that most all you'll get here is action.

The seventh novel in C.J. Box's Joe Pickett series takes the reader to a whole new setting (and a setting that will probably interest and attract a new wave of fans) Yellowstone National Park. I must admit I did wonder if Box's next book would be another in this series after Joe Pickett's situation at the end of the previous novel In Plain Sight. To be honest he probably could have written this story with a different main character and we'll never know just how good a writer Box is until he does just that. However fans of Joe Pickett (which I am one of), his family and the other characters in this series will not be disappointed with the fast moving keeping the pages turning adventures in Free Fire.

In Free Fire a Yellowstone Park area local resident lawyer Clay McCann walked into a camp in the narrow isolated Idaho region of the park, blew away four campers then returned to the ranger station where his car was parked earlier that day and confessed to the killings. After a brief stint in jail he is out a free man, not because he is innocent but because of a loophole in the law demanding he be tried by a jury of residents where the crime was committed, only thing is no one lives in this section of the park, which is now world famously known as the Zone of Death. Meanwhile Joe is an unhappy foreman on his father in law's ranch, his dignity and everything else gone when he lost his much loved job as a Wyoming Game warden. With his daughters being teased daily about his predicament and one having to defend his honour with fists in the playground he jumps at a chance offered by the governor to be a game warden once again. Only downside is he is unofficial, the governor will deny any knowledge that he even knows him. Although everyone will know he is a game warden he is under the umbrella of special projects so is really just a guest in the federally run Yellowstone Park where he has been given the task of finding out exactly why the four campers were shot as one had sent an e-mail to the governor informing him of a huge economic windfall that the state of Wyoming may be about to miss out on.

My only criticism of this novel is that Nate Romanski appeared a little too conveniently at times. I would have rather seen Joe and those he was with handle the situations themselves rather than be saved. Also a whole Nate situation is left open obviously with the intention of making us wait for and purchase Blue Heaven to find out what happens which although a nice cliff hanger for those of us who enjoy the series, those who have bought this a standalone novel may well not be too happy about.

Like all of the books in this series I would strongly suggest reading these books in order, starting with Open Season as parts of previous novels are given away in subsequent ones. If you've read all these adventures I'd also suggest the author Ben Rehder. Buck Fever is book one in a series of adventures set in Blanco County Texas with a very similar character to Joe Pickett in game warden John Marlin who could practically be his twin separated at birth and sent to Texas.

I took this novel on a beach vacation and devoured it in two long, happy days. Then, magically, my husband picked it up. He rarely reads fiction, but the cover art intrigued him and I told him he'd love the Yellowstone National Park setting and the great writing.

He was captured and read it non-stop until he was done. This novel is the latest in the Joe Pickett series, but it can stand entirely alone as a great mystery. The setting, the depth of the plotting and the warmth of the characters all make for a great read.

Even for those who never, ever read fiction.

Joe Pickett, Wyoming game warden, has been fired. He's workint as foreman on his father-in-law's ranch when Wyoming Governor Rulon jets in and rehires Pickett as his "game warden without portfolio" to investigate four recent murders in Yellowstone Park. Owing to an obscure legal concept known as vinage, the admitted murderer, local lawyer Clay McCann cannot be tried.

Picket is accompanied to Yellowstone by his shadowy pal Nate Romanowski. Romanowski is the Robin to Pickett's Batman --- and is a weak link in Box's novels. Whenever Pickett runs into a tight spot, Romanowski suddenly materializes to rescue him. In this novel, Romanowski pops up way too often and plays too big a role in the story.

The National Park Service Rangers want no part of Pickett. They have already been embarassed by their inability to offer any kind of motive for the killings and the failure (though not theirs) to prosecute McCann.

McCann returns to the town of West Yellowstone after his brief incarceration and is revealed to be a sleazy lawyer with a tawdry past.

Pickett immediately acquires an ally in Park Ranger Judy Demming, who conveniently enough is assigned to keep an eye on him. Together they traverse Yellowstone putting the pieces of the mystery together.

Box weaves a backstory in about Pickett's brother dying in Yellowstone and his alcoholic father. Another backstory is Pickett's invitation to his family to come visit him at Yellowstone on the eve of winter and while he is on an active investigation.

Soon enough, corpses start piling up and Pickett perceives that he and Park Ranger Demming are targets.

Box's plot is interesting and the reader will be rewarded with quite a tour of Yellowstone. As can be imagined, McCann's murderous activities fit into a larger scheme. The problem, however, is that Box can't quite create the bridges from one part of the plot to another, so he is forced to resort to a series of unbelievable coincidences and inventions. While not crippling, these are disturbances to the flow of the story.

The characters are nothing special. No great depth, but not entirely transparent either.

Overall, it's a police procedural set in the wilds of Wyoming. Box is a skilled enough craftsman that his writing carries him through despite the problems with plot and character. Altogether an enjoyable, if not intense, pleasureable read.

Jerry

My criterion for a good book these days is whether it pulls me into its world, leaving me disappointed to leave when the book is finished. As a writer and reader of many mysteries, it's easy to find things to pick at. But if I get sucked in by the characters anyway, I consider the book a success.

I just finished FREE FIRE by CJ Box last night and was definitely sorry to see the end come. Joe Pickett is such an interesting lead--determined, absolutely dedicated to his work and his family, but by no means a superhero. (His sidekick, Nate, is always concerned that Joe will accidentally shoot him in the back.) The setting for this book was Yellowstone National Park--vividly drawn. I'm putting it on my list of places to see again, only maybe not at night and in winter, and maybe not with Joe.

A wonderful addtion to Box's series!