Rating: 
Summary: Falls short of Open Season, but still an excellent read
Review: "Why is it that every time we find dead bodies strewn about you always seem to be standing in the middle of them!?" Once again Joe Pickett, the unsophisticated, straight-as-an-arrow game warden, will make sure that the worthless and possible corrupt sheriff overlooks nothing in this latest murder investigation. Initially it appears that a famous ecoterrorist has been killed in Saddlestring, Wyoming. As other famous environmentalists are picked off, rumors start that Stewie Woods has escaped death. Plus, he is a very old friend of Joe's wife. Joe must put aside his jealousy to help Stewie escape from a conspiracy of anti-environmentalists based right in his home town.Like his first novel, Open Season, C.J. Box centers his story on a controversial issue in the West: this time on eco-terroristism. Box does a good job of presenting the good and bad sides of a difficult issue and weaving it nicely into the plot. Box also adds in the discovery of an old Indian site and the famous story of an 1880's hired hit man. Box's writing is still enjoyable, western-edged prose. Joe Pickett remains one of the most interesting good guy characters in the genre (and yes, he gets his gun taken away from him again). Box has a lot of intriguing plot lines. However, these aren't developed to any depth; they are simply dropped into the story at the most convenient time. Box has the makings of a great book but, while it is an enjoyable read, it lacks the complexity and sophistication that made Open Season so good.
Rating: 
Summary: Runnin' Wild
Review: C. J. Box has more than lived up to his high promise of his debut novel "Open Season," This time out, the writing is more polished, graceful and the plotting is more tightly controlled. I also hereby award the author "The Best First Line Prize of 2002" I was hooked after this: "On the third day of their honeymoon, infamous environmental activist Stewie Woods and his new bride, Annabel Bellotti, were spiking trees in the forest when a cow exploded and blew them up. Until then, their marriage had been happy."
Hard to resist, right? Joe Pickett is called in as game warden for a sighted "livestock slaughter." At the time, no one knew any humans were involved. This is not the story of golden haired environmentalists vs. evil developers. There is good, bad and sometimes just plain silly on both sides. But Joe gradually becomes aware that some seemingly unconnected deaths of major environmentalists have links with his cow explosion. The action is fast, the violence sudden and graphic and has a gratifying climax. I felt guilty about feeling satisfied, but I just couldn't help it. The characterizations are extremely sharp. Though Joe has a very low opinion of his abilities, you have to listen how other people judge and estimate him to get a balanced idea of his true worth. Someone compared him to a Jimmy Stewart character and I think the comparison is apt. His wife Marybeth (the consensus is she's a "babe") is anything but a dim presence. She is Joe's other self, and sometimes the wiser one. The author handles the Wyoming scenery and ambiance like a master. You feel as if he has stepped on every foot of ground. An excellent read, and I await my next meeting with Joe Pickett with pleasure.
Rating:
Summary: Make the Run!
Review: Following up on his successful debut novel Open Season, C. J. Box brings back Wyoming Game Warden Joe Pickett for another adventure in the Wyoming backcountry. As in his first book, this novel has flatness to the writing at times, but the last 100 pages are filled with nerve-racking enjoyment. As the novel opens, a massive explosion rips through the Bighorn Natural Forest just outside of Saddlestring, Wyoming. A fire lookout sees the blast and the resulting plume of smoke and falling debris. He calls the local Sheriff's office to report it and soon Sheriff O. R. "Bud" Barnum calls Joe. Sheriff Barnum does not have any idea what exploded but believes a number of animals were killed and requires the services of Joe. Joe meets the Sheriff out at the explosion site and for a brief period of time, they are both able to put their mutual animosity towards each other aside. Dead cattle are everywhere as well as downed trees and a blasted crater several feet deep. The sheer enormity of the blast amazes and sickens both men. But soon, human remains are found and the Sheriff asserts his authority over the investigation, as the deaths of people are his domain. He forces Joe to the sidelines of the investigation but word of the victims soon leaks out and appears in the local small town paper. Stewie Woods and his wife were apparently both killed in the explosion. Stewie Woods, who some considered an ardent environmentalist and others considered him to be an ecoterrorist is blamed for the blast. Sheriff Barnum's theory is that Stewie, long known for sabotaging ranchers, miners and everyone and everything around in defense of the environment as he saw it, was attempting to sabotage some of the cattle that were grazing on federal land. Theoretically, he mishandled explosives that he was attaching to the cattle in protest and accidentally killed himself and his new wife. Joe thinks the answer is just too pat and has a personal stake in the situation, which becomes a major portion of the book. He launches his own investigation and soon finds himself in the cross hairs of a sniper's rifle as a killer chases him across the high country of Wyoming. As in Open Season, C. J. Box is best at describing the rugged beauty of the Wyoming landscape. Those scenes come alive and for a moment it seems as if you are on a horse next to Joe as he surveys elk flowing across the spring grass under a stark blue sky with a gentle wind blowing. Unfortunately, when his characters speak, the illusion is cracked as many of the dialogue sections seem just a bit stilted. One kind of winces at times knowing that most folks do not really speak the way he writes in the scenes he describes. However, his last 100 pages of this novel make you forget the limitations that came before them. Something happens and everything begins to click and run together as the chase winds across the rugged mountains with Joe chased by a determined killer bent on finishing his job to the last man. What follows is some of the best writing I have had the pleasure to read in sometime and ranks up there with some of the best written chase scenes by the masters. What starts off rather slow becomes a nerve-racking finish and certainly well worth the read.
Rating:
Summary: Very good except for two clanging errors
Review: Having spent a lot of time out with game wardens, the approach to law enforcement, the dogged determination, and the independent streak are all pretty much right on. This book deals with eco-terrorism and extreme ecologists who want to see maximum benefit for nature. Some would hope to see a world restored to near pre-human state; others seek a more balanced approach between the wild and the world of humanity. Two extremists are in the mountains and approaching a herd of cattle...one of which explodes. Not from methane, but C4. It's a drastic solution to removing cattle from the public lands, and it appears to have removed at least one human at the same time. But, please, get better editing. Bow and bough are not the same, nor are they interchangeable. And it is simply not possible to sabotage bulldozers by flattening their tires as one monkeywrencher brags to a listener. Heavy equipment may have tires or tracks, and had the phrase "heavy equipment" or earthmover, or one of many other items, been used, it would have been correct. Bulldozers don't have tires; they have tracks, as they are crawlers. Two minutes of editing would have fixed these, and the book would be the better for it. It's still a keeper, and a good story.
Rating:
Summary: strong environmental police procedural
Review: He is a radical environmentalist known nationwide as an ecoterrorist and founder of the group One Globe. On the third day of his honeymoon, he and his bride Annabel are in the Bighorn National Forest spiking as many trees the have nails when a cow explodes and blows them away. Stewie Woods never realized two men were assigned to kill him had tracked him for days. After Stewie is taken care of, the two shooters, Charlie Tibbs and the Old Man crisscross the country killing environmentalists who are in a position of power. Their killing spree includes a writer, a lawyer and a lobbyist. When word gets back to the pair that Stewie may still be alive, Charlie goes back to finish the job. The environmentalist killer tangles with game warden Joe Pickett, a man with a keen sense of justice and a determination to uphold the law at the cost of his reputation and even his life. In SAVAGE RUN, the Wild West is still a place where some "respectable" citizens are willing to take the law into their own hand to get their viewpoints across to those who try thwart them. The hero is an admirable man, whom a century ago would be considered a "white rat" willing, even eager to see justice triumph. C.J. Box is a talented writer who take his audience out of the typical suspense thriller box and keep his readers audience on their edge of their seat eager to find out what happens next. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Highly Addictive Reading
Review: Is there no limit to the perfidy possible in remote Idaho? Box continues to please, writing of an unusually average joe in an underpaid government job up against poachers and notorious unlicensed fisherpersons. His job is way too political, his day too lonely and his daily grind seems to fill rapidly with extradordinary situations that test credibility. But, and it's a big but, the author never pushes too hard. The everyday hero has no superskills except devotion to his family and a tenacious work ethic that demands ethical behavior of the people he encounters. There may be a few too many really, really bad guys in a state half-filled with Mormons, but some of them get their just desserts, some pols get what's coming to them, and quite a few animals die in spectacular fashion. There is danger, romance, quiet reflection and a strong theme that average working stiffs do make a difference in this world. If you can, read the series in the order they were written, as some elements of the story do build. And I eagerly await the next volume to see what will befall Joe and Marybeth Pickett, their horses and little girls, and the myriad wild animals and forests that surround them. And, I can't wait to see if Mr. Box's editor learns the difference between "farther" and "further", a mistake that rankles me.
Rating:
Summary: New talent joins Nevada Barr, Kirk Mitchell
Review: It's good to see a writer improving. C. J. Box is talented, but his first novel, *Open Season*, was short on the craft and skill that make first-rate reading. *Savage Run* shows him more in control of his story, and it takes us from a promising beginning to writing worthy of seasoned pros like Nevada Barr and Kirk Mitchell. The plot is in the editorial reviews: Apparently, there is a pogrom against environmentalists, and Box's hero, Joe Pickett, gets drawn into the action. Box weaves together environment and Wyoming history to tell his story. You will know who the villain is early on, but Box manages some good surprises nonetheless. The only quibble I have with the books is one I've seen elsewhere. Pickett is just a bit too self-effacing. A series is hard to sustain when the hero is more a victim and observer than agent of change and discovery. It's time to see Pickett grow some confidence to go with his Jimmy Stewart goodness.
Rating:
Summary: Wild Wow!!!
Review: Joe Pickett, Box's OPEN SEASON hero, returns in the action packed adventure SAVAGE RUN. Joe, a Wyoming Game warden, takes his job seriously and quite often he angers locals who fish and hunt out of season or overzealously. Pickett has no idea when he is called on to check out the explosion of several cows that he will be launched into a hair-raising life or death adventure. This is a modern day tale of a new style "Range War," pitting rich ranchers against right wing ecoterrorists. C J Box's talent as a writer is his ability set readers into the midst of his narrative. If you enjoy thrillers that drip with reality, you won't be disappointed with C J Box's "Savage Run."
Beverly J Scott author of RIGHTEOUS REVENGE and RUTH FEVER
Rating:
Summary: Complex Issues
Review: Our Hero Joe Pickett, Wyoming game warden, is back in a second
outing, and he is as interesting and honest as ever.
The author does a very nice job of presenting some aspects of
a fairly new facet of the outdoors, the eco-terrorist. Such people
get a lot of news coverage, and they seem to engage in a continuing series of eye-catching, yet stupid, stunts. So anyone
interested in the outdoors, either as a place of recreation or a
place to work and live, has to ask themselves what those people
are up to and what their real agenda is.
Pickett runs up against such people who sabotage heavy
equipment, drive long spikes into old-growth timber, chain themselves to trees, and he explores, to some extent, their
motivations and feelings. And, of course, he knows a lot of
good people have lived their lives in the outdoors, doing the
things the new-comers condemn, and he understands their
confusion and frustration at having to deal with the outsiders
who seem to have a combination of naive idealism and ignorance
of what genuine ecology involves. Those people purport to
"love" animals, but they have no idea how those animals live,
roam, propagate and intermingle with other animals and humans.
Pickett is in the middle of course, trying to enforce some laws,
while protecting everyone.
But his life turns upside down when the blown-up eco-terrorist seemingly
returns from the dead and starts calling Pickett's wife. Which
makes no sense at all until it turns out that Pickett's wife knew
the eco-terrorist during her "wild" high school days.
What's a guy to do? Pickett then has to really investigate what
happened to the blown-up eco-terrorist, and in the process, he
has to also inquire into the local opposition, which also seems
to have gone over the edge.
There are a lot of interesting characters here, and the author
does a nice job of exploring them. Some of the dialog is so true
to life, the writer must have talked to some of the real characters
who populate the outdoors with all their conflicting views.
A nice, readable book, and it is a must read for anyone interested
in the questions raised by the concept of eco-terrorism.
Rating:
Summary: Crisp writing, grisly murders, beautiful setting =great read
Review: Starting with probably the most intriguing first paragraph of any novel I have ever read, I thoroughly enjoyed this tale of conspiracy to kill environmental advocates/ecoterrorists that is set in the beautiful Wyoming mountains. The hero of this tale is game warden Joe Pickett, an ordinary guy who takes his job very seriously. Pickett gets called to the scene of an explosion in a cow herd that kills 10 cows and an unknown number of people. In between his work to enforce fishing and hunting licenses or count Elk calves, Pickett gets involved in investigating the apparent murder of ecoterrorist Stewie Woods who we find out was a teenage lover of Pickett's "babe" wife Marybeth. As the story evolves we track the progress of assassins who are working their way down a hit list of environmental activitists, Congressmen, lawyers etc. As part of their agenda, the killers dispose of their victims in an ironic way--often having the animals or setting that are being protected resulting in the deaths of the victims. Particularly gruesome was a situation involving bacon and some wild animals.... I enjoyed author C.J. Box's writing style including his droll humor and his ability to turn ordinary, everyday people into very interesting and likable characters. There was nothing particularly special about Joe Pickett: his work seemed routine, he had several bad and possibly fatal blunders and his straight-arrow personality and dogged pursuit of out of season hunters irritated some politicos in the state. But his devotion to his job and family and his integrity endears him to the reader. Box, a former ranch hand and fishing guide, is a Wyoming native and does a great job of describing the rugged Western scenery as well as the pioneer spirit of the people. I look forward to more in this series.
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