Sunday Series: Joe Pickett by CJ Box @cjboxauthor #DavidChandler @recordedbooks.bsky.social #LoveAudiobooks #LibraryLove #SIAM @RecordedBooks

 

I needed to figure out a way to start reading series where I am not current or the series is finished but haven’t read them yet.  So it’s a way to commit myself to read my backlist, particularly series.

 

I have been wanting to read the Joe Pickett series for awhile after reading the first one.  The initial books I read in ebook format because the narrator David Chandler was in my head for another series. There is a similarity in the two author’s work with a law enforcement main character in a gorgeous natural area. But I’ve become totally comfortable with the narrator’s Joe Pickett voices.

For Series in a Month, Berls and I chose to bring our Joe Pickett reading up to date.

 

 

 

 

Dark Sky by CJ Box
Narrator: David Chandler
Series: Joe Pickett #21
Published by Recorded Books on March 2, 2021
Genres: Mystery
Length: 9 hours, 31 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Library
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The governor of Wyoming gives Joe the thankless assignment of taking a tech baron on a hunting trip. Unbeknownst to them, as they trek further into the wilderness, a hunter is hot on their heels. Joe must rely on his wits and his knowledge of the outdoors to protect himself and his charge. Meanwhile, when Joe's closest friend Nate Romanowski and his own daughter Sheridan learn of the threat to his life, they follow him into the woods to rescue him, and all three come together for one final showdown.

I enjoy every book, however there is a common theme of corruption / greed and even in officials (other than Joe), who wreak havoc until they can be stopped.  Joe is often in the path of destruction doing the stopping.

Dark Sky contains these themes along with a tech baron who is oblivious to others’ issues, only what he wants himself.  When he comes to the isolated area, his haters try to take him down.  Permanently.

Nate has his own problems. A rogue falconer comes to steal from his nests and even his own mew.  I worried terribly about what would happen to Liv and Kestral when Nate rode off with Sherry to find Joe.

Everything is on the edge as Joe uses his focus and outdoor knowledge to save his charge.  Only because Nate and Joe both know things about the mountain and each other, plus a focus on reality, do they stand a chance against the hunters.  Sherry is working with Nate and I was also fearful of her being hurt.   Originally, I thought she was going to be the public face while Nate and Liv went off the grid.  This wasn’t what they did but I was concerned that would make Sherry even more of a target for those trying to get to Nate.

The ending left me distressed for what might happen to Nate next and anxious for Joe with the governor unhappy yet again.

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Shadows Reel by CJ Box
Narrator: David Chandler
Series: Joe Pickett #22
Published by Recorded Books on March 8, 2022
Genres: Mystery
Length: 9 hours, 4 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Library
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A day before the three Pickett girls come home for Thanksgiving, Marybeth Pickett finds an unmarked package at the front door of the library where she works. When she opens the package she finds a photo album that belonged to an infamous Nazi official. Who left it there? And why did they leave it with her?

She learns that during World War II several Wyoming soldiers were in the group that fought to Hitler’s Eagles Nest retreat in the Alps - and one of them took Hitler’s personal photo album. Did another take this one and keep it all these years? When she finds the name of a deceased local man who was likely in the unit, Joe visits the man’s son - only to find him brutally tortured and murdered. Someone is after the photo album - but why? And when a close neighbor is murdered, Joe and Marybeth face a new question: How will they figure out the book’s mystery before someone hurts them…or their girls?

Meanwhile, Nate Romanowski is on the hunt for a younger and more ruthless version of himself - the man who stole Nate’s falcons and attacked his wife. Using a network of fellow falconers, Nate tracks the man from one city to another, learning that his target is an agitator and a financier of anarchists. Even as he grasps the true threat his quarry presents, Nate swoops in for the kill - and a stunning final showdown.

Well I didn’t have to worry about the governor firing Joe, that was never addressed.  Shadows Reel moves right into the joy of all the Pickett girls at home and Thanksgiving.  Liv and Kestral join them because Nate is off trying to find his birds. Joe is just recovering from his previous ordeal.

Marybeth has her own mystery to solve when a Nazi photo album is dropped off at the library.  It is a dark and horrifying archive of history.  Apparently someone wants it at any cost. The smart and resourceful Marybeth figures out what to do but not before people are killed and someone stalks their home.  Her plan is brilliant.

I enjoyed Nate’s trip more than I expected.  I liked his connection with another falconer Geronimo Jones, who is also in the BLM movement. I hope we see him again.

There are interesting perspectives presented on Antifa and BLM, and how the local governments are responding, as well as who is participating in protests.  The killer thief is also involved it seems. Antifa  (which doesn’t actually exist but is a buzz word) is a bunch of entitled young men who want to burn down the government which is more like anarchy than anti-fascist.

There is somewhat less violence than I feared.  Nate seems off kilter. In the end, he asks Joe to come and help him.  I was happy to see some dumb innocents like Randy and a sheriff’s deputy manage to survive.

 

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Storm Watch by CJ Box
Narrator: David Chandler
Series: Joe Pickett #23
Published by Recorded Books on February 28, 2023
Genres: Mystery, Thriller
Length: 9 hours, 4 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Library
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When a prominent University of Wyoming professor goes missing, authorities are stumped. That is, until Joe Pickett makes two surprising discoveries while hunting down a wounded elk on his district as an epic spring storm descends upon him.

First, Joe finds the professor's vehicle parked on a remote mountainside. Then he finds the professor's frozen and mutilated body. When he attempts to learn more, his investigation is obstructed by Federal agents, extreme environmentalists, and Governor Colter Allen.

Meanwhile, Joe's associate Nate Romanowski is rebuilding his falconry company, financing this through crypto mining. Nate is then approached by a shadowy group of local militant activists who are gaining in power and influence, and demanding that Wyoming join other western states and secede from the union – by force, if necessary. They ask Nate to throw in his lot with them, but he's wary. Should he trust them, or is he being set up?

Some of the same villains rise again to try to discredit and take down Nate and Joe.  Topics of the day include bitcoin and foreign spies.  Joe, of course, finds a dead body, then another.  Sheriff Tibbs just wants to stay home until he retires so he stops taking Joe’s calls.  Joe is told to stay out of the investigations but feels duty bound to look into things since the sheriff isn’t doing much.

Sherry is dating the son of a rancher. She knows of him from high school but then he was very popular and out of her social circle.  He’s confidant and a bit pushy.  He doesn’t listen to her but talks endlessly about himself and his new guns.  I’m not impressed with him, especially since he makes Sherry uncomfortable.

Joe sees some men chasing elk around and then shearing off their horns.  He spends some time gathering evidence and tracking down the criminals. He keeps busy with that and the dead bodies. Apparently the governor is coming to Marybeth’s library for an event, likely to announce he is running for reelection.

A formal special forces guy tries to get Nate to join a new sovereign nation group.  Luckily, Nate doesn’t trust him and does his own interrogation of him. Geronimo was here talking with Nate about a new business project.

I am so worried for Nate and his family being on the grid.   Joe continues to be mistreated by the governor and his mother-in-law so I fear for him too. I was happy to see them working together on the situations here instead of them being blind sighted and being hunted.

 

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Three Inch Teeth by CJ Box
Narrator: David Chandler
Series: Joe Pickett #24
Published by Recorded Books on February 27, 2024
Genres: Mystery, Thriller
Length: 9 hours, 51 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Library
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A rogue grizzly bear has gone on a rampage—killing, among others, the fiancee of Joe’s daughter. At the same time, Dallas Cates, who Joe helped lock up years ago, is released from prison with a list of six names tattooed on his skin. He wants revenge on the people who sent him the people he blames for the deaths of his entire family and the loss of his reputation and property.
Targeted are a judge, the county prosecutor, his lawyer, a prison guard—and both Nate Romanowski and Joe Pickett. Using the grizzly attacks as cover, Cates devises a method of violence identical to the bear killings and sets out to methodically check off his list.

4.5 hearts

I knew this was about grizzly bear attacks but it is so much more.  A team comes in to find the bear and they are plagued with activists who believe the bears should be saved.  I don’t see how they could continue those feelings after watching one of the warden’s team be mauled.

I had hoped that perhaps Three-Inch Teeth would just be the bear attacks to track down but no.  Dallas Cates also gets out of prison and starts on his hit list.  He teams up with another known villain.   I was so worried for Nate and Joe but also Sherry.  Sherry is out doing business for Yaric Inc with the falcons and runs into an old women who seems negative about her, but also seems familiar.  I was sure she was related to the Cates or one of the other villains.  On her way back into town, Sherry meets a white pickup full of villains and I was so afraid for her.

There are some severe losses of loved characters here.  Marybeth is a star, figuring things out before anyone else.  I was glad to see Nate was back on track seeming more competent and Joe did well also.  There are some big problems on the horizon with one villain slipping away and the likely new sheriff having connections that are already into corruption.

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Battle Mountain by CJ Box
Narrator: David Chandler
Series: Joe Pickett #25
Published by Recorded Books on February 25, 2025
Genres: Mystery, Thriller
Length: 10 hours, 2 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Library
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The campaign of destruction that Axel Soledad and Dallas Cates wreaked on Nate Romanowski and Joe Pickett left both men in tatters, especially Nate, who lost almost everything. Wondering if the civilized life left him vulnerable to attack, Nate dropped off the grid with his falcons in tow to prepare for vengeance.

When Joe gets a call from the governor asking for help finding his son-in-law, who has gone missing in the Sierra Madre mountain range, he enlists the help of a local, a rookie game warden named Susan Kany.

As Nate and fellow falconer Geronimo Jones circle closer to their prey, Joe and Susan follow the nearly cold trail to Warm Springs. Little do Nate and Joe know that their separate journeys are about to converge . . . at Battle Mountain.

Now I reach the end of the currently released Joe Pickett books.  Over all these books, Joe has aged about 20 years.  I was glad the ending wasn’t a cliffhanger.  I would say they don’t end in actual cliffhangers but there are some where I am most anxious to know what will happen next in a continuing story arc for the series.

Battle Mountain is actually the name of the mountain near a guest ranch where a bunch of elite in the military and defense department meet annually to honor themselves and relax.  It’s the perfect place for anti-government terrorists like Axel to strike.  Of course, Joe is sent into the thick of it because two hunting guides are missing, including the governor’s son-in-law.

Nate and Geronimo are also there hunting for Axel.  Along with an FBI agent soon to retire who has been at every big event like Waco, Ruby Ridge,  and more.  He doesn’t know about the current plan but figures Nate and Geronimo do.  The agent has been watching Axel.

I loved Sherry and Marybeth protecting Kestrel.  The new sheriff was disappointing as expected.  I enjoyed Joe and Nate ending up at the same mess as usual.  Things go right when they are together.  Now I have to wait and look forward to the next Joe book.

 

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Narration:

David Chandler is a favorite narrator.  He is totally the voice for the Cork O’Connor series by William Kent Krueger.  I wasn’t sure I could listen to these because the voice is so much the other series to me.  Now I am comfortable with him for these characters in this world.  I seem to be able to enjoy him in multiple series without getting him stuck in my head as just one character. I normally listen at 1.50x speed instead I went to 1.75x speed which worked well.

Listen to a clip HERE

 

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

• 25-Audio
• 25-COYER

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