C.J.
Box’s latest, Stone Cold, a Joe Pickett novel,
will definitely become a “mega country hit.” His
books based in Wyoming have the flavor of a modern day Western,
where the setting becomes almost a character in itself. Box’s
novels always include two plots: one involving Pickett’s
family and the other, a story of adventure, with some political
intrigue and culture from that part of the US.
Although the Joe Pickett novels are a series, each individual
book is a stand alone, due in large part to Box’s writing
style. Stone Cold has two intertwining plots, one involving
Pickett’s college age daughter and the other a murder
for hire company, based in Wyoming’s Black Hills. Each
piece of the story goes beyond the “who done it,”
allowing the reader to question modern day issues.
The family story has Pickett’s older daughter, Sheridan,
worried about a fellow dorm student at the University of Wyoming
who appears to have a mass shooter type personality. Box explores
the issue of the 2nd Amendment on college campuses, such as,
whether colleges should be gun free zones, or should college
students shave the freedom to carry a weapon. He stated, “What
I put in the book is really happening in Wyoming where students
can have up to three guns, but not in their dorm room. They
need to store it with the UW Police Department. Times have
obviously changed since when I was younger I had a rifle in
my high school locker for finding prairie dogs. In my college
days we would have our guns to go hunting. I am a big 2nd
Amendment supporter but I wanted my readers to question the
issue of allowing guns in dorm rooms. I remember my college
days where we twenty-one year old boys would get all liquored
up. I am not so sure it is a good idea to have a gun then.
I go back and forth, but I do think what is being done today
is a fair compromise.”
The other plot has Joe traveling to Wyoming’s Medicine
Wheel County to investigate the shady dealing of a wealthy
landowner, Wolfgang Templeton who owns the county, land, people,
and law. The issue focuses on being above the law for righteous
reasons. Box gets the point across through his characters:
Joe tends to bend the rules while Nate Romanowski goes against
the rules. For those who have not read any past books, Nate
is the antithesis of Joe, a loner who lives in the woods with
his falcons. This plot brings back “Frontier Justice,”
since Nate rights a wrong against those morally degenerate
elitists who are untouchable in society. The other issue examined
is the idea of handouts and the dependency it can cause among
the people.
Box commented, “There is the perception in this country
that some bad people are untouchable because they are part
of the elite and part of the system. This is something Templeton
and Nate address since they go after people that cannot be
touched in any way due to their connections. Regarding the
other issue, Templeton, to gain control, established in this
county handouts to take care of everybody and bring the people
on his side. Yet, they want more and more from him. This shows
how the county people became dependent, unhappy, and is always
asking for more and more. Both Templeton and the county people
become hostages to each other.”
The reader
should be aware that although the main plot comes to an ending
the side plots are left up in the air, which is Box’s
style. He always leaves certain threads that run through the
series that don’t have a definitive conclusion, and
resume in future books.
He also gave a heads up about his next book, which will also
include Nate. The plots will include Joe’s daughter
April’s disappearance that will be intertwined with
a plot surrounding endangered species and the effect it has
on energy development.
Wyoming citizen, the former Second Lady of the US, Lynne Cheney
stated, “I love Box's novels. His realistic plots yield
plenty of surprises, and his characters are fabulous, especially
Joe Pickett. And all of this is set against an evocative Wyoming
background that he draws perfectly. There is never a false
note to break the spell. I hope Box keeps writing for many
years to come.”
Stone Cold has non-stop action with captivating characters.
The plots are thought provoking, suspenseful, and compelling.
These western tale books are a welcome difference from other
crime novels and should be on any readers’ list that
wants a thrilling mystery.
Reviews
of other titles in this series
Trophy
Hunt
#4
Cold
Wind #12
Shots
Fired (Short Stories)
Stone Cold #14 [review
1] [review
2]
Endangered #15[review
1] [review
2]
Vicious
Circle #16
Off
The Grid #17
Disappeared
#18
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