Sunny's bookshelf
Sunny's bookshelf photo by Judy Solomon

Online book reviews since 2011, the very best in reviewing – connecting good readers with equally good writers

Cold Wind

Sign up to receive our latest reviews by email

There are so many reasons to recommend C. J. Box and his Joe Pickett novels it’s hard to know where to begin. Let’s start with the setting of his latest, Cold Wind: it doesn’t get much better than the majestic mountains of Wyoming. Then toss in dedicated and likeable Game Warden and family man Joe Pickett. Pickett’s home base is Saddlestring, a small mountain community of cattle ranchers and merchants and guides who cater to seasonal hunters and fishermen. That’s where Joe comes in, but he does more than issue hunting citations and mend fences. Saddlestring comes complete with petty politics, a less than engaging sheriff, a young and eager district attorney, a nearby Indian reservation, and an exclusive enclave for the rich and famous just beyond the city and sometimes the law. It’s not all bucolic; the bad guys come through as serious poachers, cattle rustlers, and flat-out murderers and their handiwork seems to occur with alarming regularity.

C. J. Box has been engaging readers since 2001 with his first Joe Pickett novel, Open Season. Ten years and eleven novels later, he’s no longer the new kid on the block. What makes Box’s mysteries so worth the read is their combination of tight, intelligent writing, with enough warmth and humor to get you past any murderous gore, cliff hanging suspense, and story lines that take you into more than the wilds of Wyoming. Cold Wind begins with murder most foul by page nine, and takes the reader into a mystery engulfed by wind power ecology and economics and dirty little family secrets. If you’ll excuse the pun, this novel will blow you away.

Add your thoughts and comments...

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Share this Review
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn

Related Reviews

The God of  Endings

Jacqueline Hollands’s debut novel, The God of  Endings, reveals the loneliness of the life of an unwilling vampire. Jacqueline Holland’s debut novel, The God of Endings, follows

Read More »
The Midnight Library

The Midnight Library

Matt Haig’s novel, The Midnight Library, describes the twenty-seven hours it takes Nora Seed to choose life or death. The Midnight Library, Chapter One begins, “Nineteen

Read More »
Facing The Mountain

Facing The Mountain

    Daniel James Brown’s Facing the Mountain, A True Story of Japanese American Heroes in World War II, is the rich telling of the plight faced

Read More »

About the Reviewer

Sign up for reviews by email

You’ll get email updates from Bookin’ with Sunny when we add a new review or blog post, and we never share your email with anyone else.

Shopping in-store Fun!

Support your local community’s economic growth by shopping for books at your independent bookstore in person, online at their website, or by phone.