Out of Range (A Joe Pickett Novel) [Hardcover]

C. J. Box (Author)

Book Description

Series: A Joe Pickett Novel | Publication Date: May 5, 2005

Game warden Joe Pickett returns in a twisting, action-packed tale of greed, power, and murder.

Joe Pickett is attempting to enjoy-all right, survive-his mother-in-law's wedding to a local big-shot rancher when he receives some disturbing news: Will Jensen,a fellow Wyoming game warden and a good friend, has killed himself. And Joe's been picked to temporarily run Jensen's Teton district.

Jackson, Wyoming, is a far cry from Joe's hometown of Saddlestring-it's the epicenter for many environmental extremists and an elite playground for the rich and powerful-and Joe quickly finds himself in over his head. Yet despite the pressures of his new job, he can't get his friend's suicide out of his mind. By all accounts, Will had changed in the last few months, becoming violent and unpredictable.

The closer Joe comes to the truth about Will's death, the more his own life spirals out of control-and he realizes that if he's not careful, he may end up as Jackson's next victim. Out of Range proves once again that C. J. Box is one of the most original and entertaining voices in mystery fiction.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In Box's taut, suspenseful fifth Joe Picket novel (after 2004's Trophy Hunt), the Wyoming game warden is temporarily transferred from his backwater base, Saddlestring, to Jackson, a sophisticated tourist mecca, to replace warden Will Jensen, who apparently shot himself to death. Joe has his doubts about Will's "suicide," but little time to investigate given other distractions: a vast and remote territory to patrol, questionable practices by a hunting outfitter, pressure to approve an exclusive housing development on a wildlife trail and protests by animal rights activists. At home, Joe's contentious wife, Marybeth, deals with mysterious threats and daughter Sheridan's teenage angst. To complicate matters further, Joe's reputation as a hardheaded law enforcer, unwilling to play politics, precedes him. Unusual for the genre, the skillfully orchestrated climax doesn't include a chase and the conclusion is ambivalent. Adept at setting his scenes, physically and psychologically, Box approaches Nevada Barr in his ability to describe the West's natural beauty. With each book he creates plots of greater complexity, but in contrast to his ever more nuanced male characters, his women remain too often flirtatious or angry.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* When a fellow game warden kills himself, Joe Pickett is transferred to Jackson Hole--"Wyoming's very own California"--where the new and old Wests collide head-on. Pickett investigates the suicide, meanwhile angering both a hotheaded developer and an irascible outfitter--and attracting the developer's beautiful wife. (Back home in Saddlestring, Joe's wife, Marybeth, calls family friend Nate Romanowski for help with threatening phone calls and finds herself tempted, too.) Contemporary issues are always integral to Box's books, and here he examines the modern quest for authenticity through something called the "Good Meat Movement." In the fifth installment of any series, even one this good, one might reasonably expect a creeping sense of routine. But, if anything, Box is getting better. Incorporating his own natural curiosity into his characters' opinions, he strides a Teton-sharp line between the hard-boiled ethos, where concepts of right and wrong are almost meaningless given the world's ways, and a western sensibility, where a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do--Joe eventually delivers the line: "I just killed the only man in Jackson Hole I really understood." But although Pickett is a laconic western archetype, there's no mythmaking here. He's a family man, likably flawed, and evolving every year. Recommended for practically everybody. Keir Graff
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult; First Edition edition (May 5, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399152911
• ISBN-13: 978-0399152917
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #379,395 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.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thoroughly enjoyable reading!, September 28, 2005

By 

Michael D. Trimble (Connecticut) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Out of Range (A Joe Pickett Novel) (Hardcover)

You really have to wonder why C. J. Box isn't selling more books. He is clearly a talented writer with a gifted imagination. He has been recognized by critics and organizations responsible for literary awards, and yet his books are hard to find, even at the largest big box bookstores. I am hoping that with his latest book, Out of Range, the momentum he needs to move to the next level of recognition, will begin to build.

Out of Range is C.J's 5th Joe Pickett novel. For anyone new to the series, Joe Pickett is a Game Warden working for the state of Wyoming. You might not think there would be a lot happening in the life of a Wyoming Game Warden, but in Joe Pickett's Wyoming there sure as heck is! Seems this state has an over abundance of killings, deadly animals, and incredibly beautiful but dangerous landscapes, and Joe Pickett is a magnet that seems to attract all the various forms of trouble.

This book begins when Joe learns about the death/suicide of a good friend and fellow Game Warden and the man responsible for the highly visible Jackson Hole district. Joe is selected from a short list of Game Wardens to take over his friend's former district. As you might expect, Joe sees all kinds of reasons to doubt the "official" findings behind his friend's death, and it doesn't take Joe long to make enemies of the same people that apparently weren't getting along with the former Warden. Added to the problems in Jackson Hole, Joe is also having marital problems with the wife he temporally left behind when he had to relocate to the new district, and if that weren't enough, she is also experiencing her own form of grave danger.

While the conclusion is fairly predictable, the story builds suspense and anticipation throughout, and you will enjoy how Box pulls it all together at the end. This is a well written book, easy to read, and unlike so many similarly styled books, Box spends enough time introducing all the characters so that they are easy to keep track of and remember.

Highly Recommended!

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Byzantine, dark, and gritty thriller, May 6, 2005

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Out of Range (A Joe Pickett Novel) (Hardcover)

Game Warden Joe Pickett who is based in Saddlestring, Twelve Sleep County in Wyoming is shocked when he hears that fellow game warden Will Jensen committed suicide. Joe's supervisor asks him to temporally take over Will's territory Jackson in Teton County; although it is not a good time to leave his wife and two daughters. He agrees to the temporary assignment in the hopes that he will obtain a better position and more income.

Before he leaves, he asks his friend Nate Romanaski to watch his family because they are getting some strange calls that could prove dangerous. A spark ignites between Joe's wife and Nate one that they both try to ignore. Meanwhile, in Jackson, Joe is trying to deal with an ambitious supervisor ,an outfitter who doesn't adhere to the law and a developer who needs Joe approval to get his project off the ground. In an ominous turn of events Joe is exhibiting the same symptoms that Will experienced before he committed suicide and he begins to suspect that he and Will were set up by a dangerous and ruthless enemy.

C.J. Box has written some pretty spectacular books over the years but OUT OF RANGE is by far his best work to date. This literary and lyrical thriller is memorable and will be considered a classic. The protagonist is an everyman that people can identify with him even when he finds himself attracted to another woman but like his wife chooses to ignore it. The plot is Byzantine, dark, gritty, almost gothic in tone and will appeal not just to mystery fans but to anyone who loves a good book.

Harriet Klausner

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book!, May 22, 2005

By 

L. J. Roberts (Oakland, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Out of Range (A Joe Pickett Novel) (Hardcover)

Box excels at sense of place and creating interesting characters. This book has the classic elements of drama and suspense. But there is much more to it than that. This is a book about conflict on many different levels. It's intriguing, dark, honorable and made me think. It is, I believe, Box's best book so far.