Blood Trail (Joe Pickett Series #8)

by C. J. Box Narrated by David Chandler

Overview

It's elk season in the Rockies, but this year one hunter is stalking a different kind of prey. When the call comes in on the radio, Joe Pickett can hardly believe his ears: game wardens have found a hunter dead at a camp in the mountains - strung up, gutted, skinned, and beheaded, as if he were the elk he'd been pursuing. A spent cartridge and a poker chip lie next to his body. Ripples of horror spread through the community, and with a possibly psychotic killer on the loose, Governor Rulon is forced to end hunting season early for the first time in state history - outraging hunters and potentially crippling the state's income from the loss of hunting license revenue. But when the brutal murders eerily coincide with the arrival of radical anti-hunting activist Klamath Moore, Pickett knows the Governor's ruling is the least of his worries. Are the murders the work of a deranged activist or of a lone psychopath with a personal vendetta? As always, Joe Pickett is the governor's go-to man, and he's put on the case to track the murderous hunter, as more bodies - and poker chips - turn up.

Editorial Reviews

During elk hunting season, hikers in the Rockies can often hear distant shooters practicing their elk calls. This year, the mountains are quieter; the governor canceled the shooting season after game wardens found a hunter shot, strung up, gutted, beheaded, and flayed. Rumors spread quickly that a psychopathic anti-hunting activist is loose in the woods. As more bodies are found, horror rips through the hills, and the governor pressures Joe Pickett to stop carnage somehow, anyway he can. The eighth Joe Pickett novel is a corker.

Booklist

Box sets the standards so high with his Joe Pickett series. . . . Box is a master at working New West issues into his stories . . . exploring pro and con arguments without missing a storytelling beat . . . he's forged a perfect alloy of familiar and fresh. . . . Once again, recommended for practically everybody.

New York Times Book Review

Praise for C. J. Box's Free Fire "Joe doesn't let us down, leading us on an exhilarating tour. . . .

Publishers Weekly

Box's disappointing eighth installment of the celebrated Joe Pickett series is a suspenseful journey which casts our hero in a brutal murder investigation that may lead to his own demise. David Chandler reads with great dedication and clarity to the tale, but he is simply not Joe Pickett. Chandler's voice is that of a Broadway star, not a Wyoming game warden, and the story suffers because of it. There is no attempt at even the slightest mid-western dialect here; Chandler drones on and on in a monotone voice that is more likely to put listeners to bed than at the edge of their seats. When the narrator seems less than enthused with a story, the audience stands no chance. A Putnam hardcover (Reviews, Mar. 17).
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Library Journal

When a hunter is butchered in Wyoming, game warden Joe Pickett and his boss, Randy Pope, set off to investigate. Soon, it becomes clear that someone is systematically killing hunters. Caught between the people who hunt and those who are opposed to hunting, not to mention facing one of the most dangerous cases of his career, Pickett must find a way to bring the killer to justice before more deaths occur. Award-winning mystery writer Box ratchets up the suspense in this tightly plotted example of his writing genius, his eighth thriller to feature Pickett. His sense of place and talent for character development are on a par with those of James Lee Burke. Highly recommended. [See Prepub Mystery, LJ1/08.]

—Jo Ann Vicarel

Kirkus Reviews

Wyoming Game and Fish Warden Joe Pickett (Free Fire, 2007, etc.), once again at the governor's behest, stalks the wraithlike figure who's targeting elk hunters for death. Frank Urman was taken down by a single rifle shot, field-dressed, beheaded and hung upside-down to bleed out. (You won't believe where his head eventually turns up.) The poker chip found near his body confirms that he's the third victim of the Wolverine, a killer whose animus against hunters is evidently being whipped up by anti-hunting activist Klamath Moore. The potential effects on the state's hunting revenues are so calamitous that Governor Spencer Rulon pulls out all the stops, and Pickett is forced to work directly with Wyoming Game and Fish Director Randy Pope, the boss who fired him from his regular job in Saddlestring District. Three more victims will die in rapid succession before Joe is given a more congenial colleague: Nate Romanowski, the outlaw falconer who pledged to protect Joe's family before he was taken into federal custody. As usual in this acclaimed series, the mystery is slight and its solution eminently guessable long before it's confirmed by testimony from an unlikely source. But the people and scenes and enduring conflicts that lead up to that solution will stick with you for a long time. More of a western than a mystery, like most of Joe's adventures, and all the better for the open physical clashes that periodically release the tension between the scheming adversaries. Agent: Ann Rittenberg/Ann Rittenberg Literary Agency

From the Publisher

Praise for Blood Trail

“Box...spins a story crammed with shock and suspense.”—San Diego Union-Tribune

“Writing beautifully about the mountain West and its people, Box takes care to present both sides of the controversial issue of hunting.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“A killer opening.”—Tampa Tribune

“Box ratchets up the suspense in this tightly plotted example of his writing genius.”—Library Journal

More Praise for the C. J. Box and the Joe Pickett novels
 
“One of today’s solid-gold, A-list, must-read writers.”—Lee Child
 
“Picking up a new C. J. Box thriller is like spending quality time with family you love and have missed...It’s a rare thriller series that has characters grow and change. An exciting reading experience for both loyal fans as well as newcomers.”—Associated Press
 
“Box is a master.”—The Denver Post

“Box knows what readers expect and delivers it with a flourish.”—Cleveland Plain Dealer
 
“Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett strides in big boots over the ruggedly gorgeous landscape of C.J. Box's outdoor mysteries.”—The New York Times Book Review
 
“Riveting...[A] skillfully crafted page-turner.”—People
 
“Will keep you on the edge of your seat.”—The Philadelphia Enquirer

OCT/NOV 08 - AudioFile

The Joe Picket saga by talented crime fiction writer C.J. Box continues with a rich and layered murder mystery that takes place in the Rocky Mountains. Narrator David Chandler delivers a personal and gripping performance as Picket works his way deeper into the brutal crime and realizes that he is next on the list. Chandler narrates with a firm, unwavering voice that is at once emotional and intense. Listeners will feel like they’re walking beside Picket through the wilds of Wyoming to track down the murderer. Tension abounds in this mystery, and Chandler knows exactly when to shift his tone, even slightly, to raise the stakes. L.B. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171050306
Publisher:	Recorded Books, LLC
Publication date:	09/26/2008
Series:	Joe Pickett Series
Edition description:	Unabridged
Sales rank:	445,626

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