Shadows Reel

October 1, 2021

A moose-poaching incident investigated by Wyoming Game Warden Joe Pickett turns out to be ugly--a local game warden has been tortured to death--just as a bland, unmarked package delivered to the library proves traumatic. When it's opened by Joe's wife, Marybeth, it contains the devastatingly awful photo album of a Nazi official. Where did it come from, and what does it mean for the entire Pickett family as Thanksgiving approaches?

Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2021
Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett finds a local fishing guide tortured and burned, while Joe's wife, Marybeth, discovers an unmarked package at her library containing a photo album once owned by a Nazi official. A connection between the two events is made, but only after the entire Pickett clan, home for Thanksgiving, is placed in danger, and one of their neighbors is murdered. Who would want that album so badly? What is still stirring in the ashes of WWII? Meanwhile, Joe's friend, Nate Romanowski, has gone off in a black rage to apprehend Axel Soledad, who stole Nate's falcons at the conclusion of Dark Sky (2021). With the help of Geronimo Jones, a fellow falconer, Nate looks for Soledad in a Denver besieged by militant antifa adherents. Together, the pair follows a bloody trail to Portland and one last shoot-out. Box expertly maneuvers readers through two entirely different stories in this twenty-second entry in the immensely popular series. Fans can look forward to an upcoming Joe Pickett television series from Paramount Studios/Spectrum Originals.

COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

January 1, 2022
International intrigue crashes into Twelve Sleep County, Wyoming. Good news, bad news for Game Warden Joe Pickett. He's still recovering from the physical damage he suffered in his last outing, Dark Sky (2021), but he's been moved into a bigger, better sited house since his old one was torched. The discovery of freelance fishing guide Bert Kizer on the grounds of the Crazy Z-Bar Ranch is clearly connected to a hagiographic album of Nazi photos from 1937 that's captured the interest of Marybeth Pickett, Joe's librarian wife. Why would someone have tortured and killed Kizer after all these years to learn the location of the album? As Joe and Marybeth await the arrival of their three daughters for what turns out to be "the worst Thanksgiving we've ever had," Joe's old friend Nate Romanowski heads off to Colorado in the hope of catching up with Axel Soledad, the outlaw falconer who beat Nate's wife, threatened his baby, and stole his falcons. After a few rounds of preliminary fencing, Nate realizes that Geronimo Jones, the Black Lives Matter activist who tipped him off about Soledad's location, is a perfect partner for him. But neither of them realizes that Soledad's activities will lead them into a lot more violence than they're ready for and, ultimately, to a last-minute reunion with Joe, who's called on to go up against "the Eric and Donald Trump Jr. of Hungary." The broader political overtones aren't an unmixed blessing, and the socko climax ends predictably, but Joe's 22nd adventure continues to give good value. Old-school Nazis, newfangled terrorists, Big Sky country--it's all here.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

January 24, 2022
Bestseller Box’s subpar 22nd Joe Pickett novel (after 2021’s Dark Sky) opens with the Wyoming game warden called to a rancher’s land to check out a dead moose. The purported moose turns out to be the burned body of a local fishing guide, who was apparently tortured before he died. Meanwhile, Joe’s wife, the director of the county library, finds a rare Nazi artifact left on the library’s doorstep: a photo album that once belonged to a high-ranking Nazi officer. That memento is also of interest to a pair of violent Hungarian brothers who’ve been dispatched to Wyoming to grab the album utilizing any means necessary. An unconvincing subplot involving the efforts of Joe’s best friend, Nate Romanowski, to reclaim his precious falcons abducted by a villain intent on selling them on the black market for nefarious purposes sputters out, but Box resolves the murder case and the hunt for the Nazi photo album with his usual panache. Series fans will hope to see more of a promising new character, rough-hewn falconer Geronimo Jones, but this isn’t the place to start for newcomers. Agent: Ann Rittenberg, Ann Rittenberg Literary.

February 1, 2022

In Box's 22nd Joe Pickett novel (after Dark Sky), Joe is called out to investigate a moose shot out of season; when he arrives, he finds instead the burned and tortured body of a local fishing guide. The same day, his wife Marybeth sees a mysterious old man at the library who leaves an unmarked package. The package contains a photo album belonging to a high-ranking Nazi officer who was hung for his crimes. Alternating chapters tell of Nate Romanowski's pursuit of the man who beat up his wife and stole his falcons. While Nate tracks the man from city to city, Marybeth and Joe try to link the crime and the photo album, and Marybeth does a lot of investigating to discover more information about World War II soldiers from Wyoming. When the Picketts' neighbor is murdered, Joe is pressed to solve the mystery before his family--especially his daughters who are home for Thanksgiving--is put in harm's way. VERDICT There is a lot going on in this book with the alternating storylines of the Picketts and Nate, but Box keeps everything flowing and easy to understand. Purchase where the series is popular.--Brooke Bolton

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.