In Plain Sight (Center Point Platinum Mystery (Large Print)) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

C. J. Box (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2006 | Series: Center Point Platinum Mystery (Large Print)

When wealthy matriarch Opal Scarlett vanishes, Joe Pickett is sure one of her greedy sons did her in. But when Joe becomes the victim of violent pranks, he wonders if what's happening has less to do with Opal's disappearance than with the darkest chapter of his own past.

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

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Wyoming Game and Fish warden Joe Pickett—honest, upright and hardworking—tends to attract the meanest villains this side of a spaghetti western, as shown in his sprightly sixth outing in which he and his family become the target of John Wayne Keeley, a misguided, conscienceless killer. In addition, Opal Scarlett, the matriarch of a wealthy ranching clan, is missing, and two of her sons, Hank and Arlen, are fighting over the estate. Joe's daughter, Sheridan, is best friends with Hank's daughter, Julie, which puts Sheridan in danger. As usual, hotheaded Joe is also in trouble with his boss, self-serving Randy Pope. When Joe is pulled off of the search for Opal, he stubbornly follows his instincts rather than orders, bringing down Pope's wrath. Edgar-finalist Box (Out of Range) expertly evokes Wyoming's landscape, wildlife, people and politics. Joe's love for the natural world shines throughout, but his lack of political finesse costs him his job by book's end. Fans will eagerly wait to see how he recoups his fortunes in the next installment.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Keeping any series balanced between familiar and fresh is tricky. An excellent series is like a tightrope act. With the author pushing himself to daring new heights, we just know he's bound to fall. In the sixth installment of Box's Joe Pickett series, the Wyoming game warden is back home in Saddlestring, happy to be with his family, when he finds himself in the crosshairs of an ex-con intent on righting a perceived wrong (from Winterkill, 2003) and drawn into an epic family feud. Out of Range (2005) was so remarkable that asking Box to top it seems unfair. Indeed, though Joe is again tested, In Plain Sight lacks the intensity and inventiveness of the previous books. Box always works in an issue--here it's the "curse of the third generation," or inheritance troubles--and while it's a nice update on the western gothic, it doesn't have the same burning relevance as ecoterrorism or natural gas drilling. Even a family-in-jeopardy device feels slightly rote. But a high-wire artist can't go up indefinitely, and even performing closer to the ground, Box puts on a hell of a show. Keir Graff
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 333 pages
• Publisher: Center Point Large Print (September 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585478407
• ISBN-13: 978-1585478408
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,923,109 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

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another great CJ Box story, June 4, 2006

By 

Professor D. L. Hoffman (Lewisburg, PA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: In Plain Sight (A Joe Pickett Novel) (Hardcover)

I had a standing order with Amazon to receive the latest Joe Pickett novel as soon as it was published.And I wasn't disappointed. I really enjoy the way he ties the various story lines from past novels together. A sociopath tries to revenge the deaths of members of his family from an earlier Box novel and blames Joe and his family. Nate Romanovski appears again along with his birds-and comes to Joe's aid in the end.

Joe is a very family oriented guy. I find him very similar to Cork O'Connor in the William Kent Krueger mystery novels. For those of you who enjoy CJ Box, check out Kent Krueger and start with "Iron Lake" to get introduced to the characters and story line. Joe is not the most ambitous of game wardens, yet he is honest and true to his duty. Yet he has a short fuse, tells it like it is and constantly is getting in trouble with the local fuzz, his superior and even the feds, much to the consternation of his wife. Yet he always comes out on top.

I wish some TV or movie producer would wise up and finally bring these Joe Pickett stories to the screen. Congratulations CJ on another great read!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent police procedural, May 6, 2006

By 

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

This review is from: In Plain Sight (A Joe Pickett Novel) (Hardcover)

Spring has finally arrived in Saddlestring but Wyoming Game Warden Joe Pickett is not a happy man. With a new democratic governor in charge of the state, Joe now has to report directly to the agency director Randy Pope. The two men don't get along and Pope is doing everything in his power to make Joe's life miserable and has ultimate goal is to find a way to fire him.

More trouble is coming to town in the form of J.W. Keeley who, just been released from prison, committed murder and grand theft auto. He blames Joe for the death of his sister in law and his daughter, and intends to make the law enforcement official pay. He takes advantage of the feud between the brothers Hank and Arlen Scarlett who are fighting over ownership of the family ranch since their mother Opal disappeared or was murdered. Keeley is hiding is plain sight and is doing a great job of instilling fear in the Pickett family. Joe knows someone is after him and he intends to hunt that person down even if it costs him his job and his life.

C.J. Box has a special kind of talent that he imbues in his police procedurals. He is able to touch the heart of readers through his protagonist who cares passionately about the family, land and wildlife. Pickett refuses to play politics which gets him in trouble with the director yet it is his straight shooting that allows him to be effective in his job. This mystery is totally awesome due to brilliant characterizations and a tense down home storyline.

Harriet Klausner

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars No home run with In Plain Sight, but you have to read it if you are a Joe Pickett fan!, October 31, 2010

By 

R Schmidt (Honolulu, HI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: In Plain Sight (A Joe Pickett Novel) (Mass Market Paperback)

Joe Pickett, a game warden with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, is on the outs with his boss, is being tormented by an ex-con with an eye toward revenge, and is trying to solve the mystery of the disappearance of the matriarch of THE major ranching family in his district.

Just another day in the life of Joe Pickett. In Plain Sight is author C. J. Box's newest installment in the life and times of this hard-working character. I've been part of the "Joe Pickett family," watching Joe evolve. He still is a bad shot with a handgun. He still is hard on departmental trucks (although, this time, he has an excuse). And Joe is involved up to his neck in multiple mysteries.

My desire to follow Joe Pickett in this volume was affected by the strangeness of the story, however. The coincidental juxtaposition of killer Wayne Keeley (recognize the name?) into Joe's life, as well as the ease that Keeley committed major crimes in Joe's district. The absolute strangeness of Opal Scarlett's children (my proposal for a family motto: "None of us are normal"). Nate to the rescue again. Director Pope continuously harassing an employee.

Expect a LOT more from the next book, Free Fire, one of Box's best stories yet. However, this one, like all of the previous books, is required reading for those of us who are Joe Pickett fans.