“Impressive precision and heart-gripping suspense….Good characters, an extra good story, and great scenes of life and death in the wilderness”–New York Times Book Review Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett must investigate an attempted murder–a crime committed from a confoundingly long distance–in the riveting new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author C. J. Box.When Joe Pickett is … C. J. Box.
When Joe Pickett is asked to join the rescue efforts for the victim of a startling grizzly attack, he reluctantly leaves his district behind. One survivor of the grizzly’s rampage tells a bizarre story, but just as Joe begins to suspect the attack is not what it seems, he is brought home by an emergency on his own turf. Someone has targeted a prominent local judge, shooting at him from a seemingly impossible distance. While the judge was not hit, his wife is severely wounded, and it is up to Joe to find answers–and the shooter.
The search for the would-be assassin becomes personal when Joe’s best friend, Nate Romanowski –just as he’s adjusting to the arrival of his first child–falls under suspicion for the crime. It’s a race against the clock as Joe tries to clear Nate’s name and identify the real shooter, all while deciphering the grizzly encounter. Beset by threats both man-made and natural, the two men must go to great lengths to keep their loved ones safe.
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How could C.J.Box not write a #1 Best Seller? Long Range, Book #20 in the Joe Pickett series is another winner. The Wyoming game warden is enlisted to assist with solving the attempted murder of a local judge’s wife. Combining descriptive scenes and likable characters with grizzly bears and cartel assassins the fast-paced plot speeds to the last page. And then it’s over and you have to wait for the next one! Great read. Cheers Lynda L. Lock (Isla Mujeres Mystery series)
“Long Range” opens with something only C J Box could write, a poetic beautiful, elegant, description of the trajectory of a bullet, what it passes over, each second, each part of a second, over the countryside, and then in three point five seconds……….the incident that drives the rest of the book.
Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett has been featured in twenty books, and both faithful readers and new ones will quickly fall into the rhythm of Pickett’s Wyoming life. There is ample background on each character so readers get to know each of them, some better than others. Pickett, now fifty, and wife Marybeth are adjusting to a big house without daughters Sheridan, April, and Lucy, who are doing well out on their own.
Box created several storylines that weave their way through the book, converging, diverging, and finally coming back together in an unexpected way. The narrative is written in alternating perspectives so readers see events from all sides and know things that characters do not. Events from the past complicate the present, and retribution looms ominously. These are old problems, but there is a new team to deal with them and with each other. Pickett’s investigation is meticulous, focused, and deliberate. He takes copious notes, not wanting to miss anything. He documents observations and questions, and pays strict attention to little details that others might have missed. He overlooks nothing while planning the next move.
“Long Range” is grounded tradition and is firmly anchored in the unique geography of Wyoming. I received a review copy of” Long Range” from by C. J. Box, and G.P. Putnam’s Sons. I loved every page.
Will you enjoy reading it? “Yup,” said Joe.
Good book.
Nate is framed and it seems to be related to the massacre on the courthouse steps in the last book. First the judge is shot at and missed and his wife is hit. Then, someone takes a shot at the prosecutor.
An anonymous tip says the gun used is hidden at Nate’s. Another anonymous tip says that someone in a police cruiser hid the gun at Nate’s.
Joe’s mother-in-law shows up, which always adds to the mayhem. Someone shoots at Joe (or thinks he does), and punches a hole in Joe’s pickup door.
Nate’s wife and child are kidnapped.
Lots of action, lots of story-lines running at once. Behind it all, revenge and lust.
Love the characters.
C. J. Box writes well with great characters and an original, compelling story.
C.J. Box – great writer.
I am a big fan of C. J. Box and have read nearly all his books.
I love C J Box novels! Joe Pickett is a wonderful character. He is very normal, not a Superman, but with great intuitive skills.
Love C. J. Box
C J Box is a wonderful author! I have read about 1/2 of his books so far!
LONG RANGE IS A SURE SHOT
I just completed C J Box’s newest entry in his Joe Picket series, LONG RANGE, and I was not disappointed. The novel starts with one of the most unusual first chapters I’ve encountered. This short chapter (six pages) has all the hallmarks of a Box novel—remarkable descriptions of the rugged environs of his beloved Wyoming intermixed with a detailed, expert description of a bullet traveling through the terrain and, by the end of the pages, striking its victim. The chapter grabs the reader by the collar—or maybe the ten gallon hat—and doesn’t let go.
As typical of Box’s novels, there are three different storylines threaded into the narrative, all beckoning to the reader. The author’s love for the wilderness and for the wild creatures who inhabit these open spaces comes through as well as his disdain for bureaucracy or to be more precise, bureaucratic government officials. Box has again created another law enforcement foil for Joe , this time Sheriff Brendan Kapelow, since Box killed off earlier characters in that role. Also, readers will be glad to see Joe Pickett’s friend and sometimes partner, Nate, has a starring role here as well, in one of the critical narrative threads. By the last page, Box has done a nice job of wrapping up each of the storylines and still offers a hook, if not a cliff hanger, for the next entry.
In short, LONG RANGE has all the attributes readers have come to expect from Box, including another intriguing story and mystery. All in time, with past weeks’ winter doldrums and pandemic confinements, time reading this latest Box offering was time well spent.
Classic CJ Box. An enjoyable read. Don’t overthink it.
Excellent with great and realistic characters.
I really like the way the elements of nature get woven into the plot, and help lead to a solution.
Good mystery
I loved this book and couldn’t put it down!
Predictable action and outcome. Unrealistic events and characters.
Love C J Box
It is another great Joe Pickett book. It has a surprising conclusion, the reader gets to soak up some Wyoming scenery, and also gets to participate in the Pickett family life.
Joe Pickett and Nate Romanowski, who needs more than that? Great story!