Book review by Dennis D. McDonald

This is Box’s 19th Joe Pickett novel. I read several years ago but missed many in the intervening years and only found this by chance at our local public library.

I rarely read mysteries but in the case of the fictional Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett I am willing to make an exception. Author Box’s description of the people, terrain, and wildlife in that part of the world ring true given my own travel experience. I was curious to see what has happened to the righteous Joe so I picked this up at the Alexandria Public Library.

I am glad I did. The story is taut, the characters interesting, and the environment is described in realistic terms. You can almost smell the early spring snowmelt and hear the crunch of gravel under Joe’s F-150 truck tires as he traverses the back roads in search of poachers, unlicensed hunters, and other assorted bad guys.

As with earlier Joe Pickett novels we note a generalized contempt for the Federal government. As before Joe’s librarian wife’s research skills come in handy. His children, now older with only one left at home, still have brushes with danger based on Joe’s “straight arrow” law enforcement.

Some elements in this novel do set WOLF PACK apart from the earlier novels. The biggest difference is the body count. By the end of the novel the corpses have really piled up and it’s not just the bad guys that perish. There are also healthy doses of technology and Mexican drug war lore spread throughout that starkly contrast against the natural beauty and small-town sensibilities that Box so lovingly describes.

By the end of the book the reader has experienced both excitement and mystery. That’s good. But the cost is high. One can’t help but wonder if that is one of the authors underlying messages. What if the game wardens had not been so insistent on pursuing and investigating the perpetrators of the drone-based attack on the wintering elk herd? What if the locals had been more compliant with the FBI’s demands that they lay off their investigations?

These are hypotheticals of course. Credit is due author Box for raising the issues in this reader’s mind.

Finally, Box has invented a group of “bad guys“ — the “Wolf Pack” referenced in the book’s title — that are both memorable and scary. They are heartless, cruel, and devious.

Hopefully we never run into anyone like them. If we do, having even a Joe Pickett on our side may not be enough to save us.         

Book review copyright (c) 2020 by Dennis D. McDonald

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