Wolf Pack (A Joe Pickett Novel)

Wow!!!!!!This is the best of the 19 Novels so far. I don’t recall a better series I read that had this much suspense!!!The Characters in the Novel could each be a separate lead character in their own series.Can’t wait to begin # 20Edwin Lloyd

Another barn burner that kept me up at night. A great plot and very interesting story. Can’t wait for book 20.

Why did I decide to tread “Wolf Pack” (WP) by C J Box? It’s the 19th in his series on Wyoming Wild game warden Joe Pickett, I had read the first in the series and reviewed if favorably back in 2002, and hadn’t read another since. I usually read a lot of crime fiction, bios, and history and was looking for something different. I love the West (reside on the East Coast), but in my humble opinion the pickin’s are slim in terms of modern day writing talent.Though I rate WP a 4 on Amazon I think that’s a bit inflated and I will score a 3 ½ on LibraryThing. WP has a lot of very strong positives, but also some negatives that really turned me off. So, much like the scenery of Wyoming, a lot of peaks and valleys. Let’s start with the pluses. A lot of good description of the background with real name places, locales you can look up on Bing and Google Maps and explore yourself a bit even if you’re 2000 miles away. A very good plot. A mysterious family has settled in the area, bringing with them a rather extraordinary level of security. Most readers will tumble to the reason why faster than any of the good guys in WP though. Some interesting scenes involving drones and what they can do to/for wildlife. A very interesting cast of bad guys, very credible, horrifying. An excellent climax, really well done. The tension amps up very nicely throughout the second half of the book, and the extended climax is one of the few I have read that is not dragged down by a series on mini climaxes. Sounds like 5 stars so far, even as I write this, but….One of the problems I have with a setting like this one can best be illustrated by some of the very popular BBC mysteries we are blessed with. A current favorite of my household is Midsomer Murders. Great stories every week, typically 3-4 victims in every 90 minute show. The problem is that the setting is a village somewhere or the other in England where everyone knows each other, patronizes each other’s businesses, and kills each other. If anyone were keeping a tab, I think the whole town would be gone by season 3 or so, much like Christie’s “10 Little Indians”, perhaps redone as “200 Little Brits”. Ok, so you have to suspend reality a bit, I get that, but still. Secondly, I’m not crazy about Joe, he sorta comes in a plain vanilla wrapper, but when you open the package, what’s inside is plain vanilla. Joe seems best in this story at just keeping out of the way. Sorry, but I prefer heroes. My third and last knock is a bit political, and upfront I must say I have no idea of the author’s politics nor his intent here, I can only comment on my reaction. There are two FBI characters (and later a third but to a lesser degree) in WP that are over the top. Obnoxious, pushy, bullying, lying, intimidating, entrapping, non-cooperative, unprincipled, and ten more such adjectives. I understand that polls will tell you that many US citizens have that perception of the FBI, particularly in red states. There is a bit of a defense of the two characters approach offered by others but its lame. I am sure there are some that would suggest the author might be pandering to his audience, or in his defense is only re-emphasizing locals’ views of Federal Government in general. My bottomline is that I thought it was a poor decision to do this now, given all the internal attacks on our intelligence services over the past two years.

Couldn't put it down.

Very intense. Very brutal, and there is enough reality in this book to give one a harrowing look into what it might be like within the depraved world of a drug cartel known to really torture and massacre law enforcement and families.I really appreciate the contrast with the American wilderness and small town life and what a fight we may have to keep it. The fentanyl crisis is real, and American drug users are to blame. They place us all at risk. As long as there is a market, there will be suppliers. But it looks like the sellers may be killing off their buyers. This book deals with the battle of a cartel to maintain its dominance, and local and federal community efforts to deal with that. The good guys win, but not without losses. This "war on drugs" never addresses the buyers who make it all possible. It makes me wonder and want to do something about it.

I ordered all the Joe Pickett books and each one is in a class of its own, from love of family and friends, to murders to mayhem.

Clearly the most violent of all of the works in this series, but once again, the agile build-up to the climax is superb! Loved that this novel (unlike recent efforts) wrapped up all of the loose ends and characters at the conclusion. Not that this was a bad thing, but sometimes it is difficult to wait for the next installment to discover the disposition of both characters and sub-plots. That is not the case here, with the author blasting out a fun, reasonable, and intriguing plot! Excellent!

My review of “Wolf Pack” came a little more slowly, and with more deliberation than I normally give. This is because I got the Audible edition at the same time I bought the Kindle edition.STAND-ALONE: It can be read as a stand-alone, but the greatest appreciation will come for devotees of the series.CLIFFHANGER. No. Although there surely will be more Pickett novels, this does not end with a cliffhanger.If I were to rate this only based on the Audible narration, I’d be hard-pressed to rate it four stars, as the writing comes across as just a bit too much of an info dump. However, when I read the Kindle version, the info dump is much more invisible, so I am rating it more highly.WRITING & EDITING: Professional. The flow is good, and the historical bits are interesting. Sometimes the inter-agency tension seems too drawn out, but, as someone who has witnessed just how antagonistic the various factions within the federal and state agencies can be, it had the feeling of authenticity.BLUSH FACTOR: The number of eff words is more than you’ll want to read with your prayer group, probably, but it is not excessive for most folks. Certainly not for me. I mention it only for those for whom it might annoy.No graphic sex, but some of the violence might disturb a few readers. I appreciated the realistic portrayal, though.BOTTOM LINEI enjoyed this murder mystery and consider it a fine Action-Adventure.

This book is different in that it's not primarily about wildlife but a criminal gang. It builds nicely to an exciting finale. Well worth a read.

A edição é boa. As páginas não são finas. Chegou bem antes do prazo. Entrega super rápida.

I like all of this writer's books - they are well written, full of believable characters, they move quickly and not ponderous.

Spannend wie immer. Ich freue mich jetzt schon auf die nächste Ausgabe der Joe Pickett-Serie, auch wenn es noch 1 Jahr dauern dürfte ...

Je crois que j'ai quasiment lu tous les livres de CJ Box, qui est un auteur bourré de talent que j'apprécie vraiment beaucoup.Il a un seul gros point faible : la crédibilité de ses histoires est parfois à la limite de l'acceptable, il a de temps à autres recours à la facilité du heureux hasard. Et, plus rarement, CJ Box nous gratifie d'une histoire incongrue, qui défie la logique.Wolf Pack est l'exemple parfait de ce mauvais côté de CJ Box.Dès le début on sait que ce ne sera pas un grand Joe Pickett : le récit est éparpillé en plusieurs points de vue, on devine tout ce qui se passe dix chapitres avant les protagonistes.Puis, aux deux tiers du récit c'est l'accident industriel littéraire : on accumule en quelques pages des hasards extraordinaires et des décisions incompréhensibles des personnages.Je ne sais pas comment un éditeur peut laisser passer quelque chose comme ça sans rien faire.C'est navrant.Le livre se termine comme un mauvais téléfilm d'action.Seule bonne nouvelle : chaque mauvais Joe Pickett est généralement rattrapé par un excellent Joe Pickett dans les mois qui suivent.Le prochain va être génial !