Thrillers & Suspense
![C. J. Box - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B001IGSO0I.jpg)
Storm Watch (A Joe Pickett Novel)
Wyoming Game Warden Joe Pickett investigates a mysterious death at a secret remote high-tech facility in this riveting new novel from #1 New York Times bestseller C.J. Box.
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, he finds the professor's vehicle parked on a remote mountainside. Then Joe finds the professor's frozen and mutilated body. When he attempts to learn more, his investigation is obstructed by federal agents, extremists, and Governor Colter Allen.
Nate Romanowski is rebuilding his falconry company-and financing this through crypto mining with the assistance of Geronimo Jones. He's then approached by a shadowy group of local militant activists that is 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 with them, but he's wary. Should he trust them, or is he being set up?
As a storm of peril gathers around them, Joe and Nate confront it in different ways-and maybe, for the first time, on opposite sides.
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, he finds the professor's vehicle parked on a remote mountainside. Then Joe finds the professor's frozen and mutilated body. When he attempts to learn more, his investigation is obstructed by federal agents, extremists, and Governor Colter Allen.
Nate Romanowski is rebuilding his falconry company-and financing this through crypto mining with the assistance of Geronimo Jones. He's then approached by a shadowy group of local militant activists that is 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 with them, but he's wary. Should he trust them, or is he being set up?
As a storm of peril gathers around them, Joe and Nate confront it in different ways-and maybe, for the first time, on opposite sides.
Editorial Reviews
"The suspense builds as the various story lines neatly intersect…Box is writing at the top of his game."
-Publishers Weekly (starred)
"Like a patient spider, Box plays out plotline after plotline, balancing his sympathies adroitly between anti-establishment libertarians who've had enough of the coastal elites and officers sworn to serve and protect their communities, before knotting them all together with a climactic revelation that for better or worse will leave you gasping. One of the most successful of Box's increasingly ambitious have-it-all thrillers."
-Kirkus Reviews(starred)
"Box keeps all the balls in the air, culminating in an ending sequence that's pure gold and extremely satisfying on multiple levels."
-BookPage (starred)
"This very tense twenty-third entry in Box's legendary Series…keeps timely, introducing crypto mining, gun control, and political extremism into the plot. The sparkling dialogue and rich characterizations again testify to Box's storytelling prowess."
-Booklist
"C.J. Box shows yet again why he's one of the best storytellers alive today with Storm Watch, a riveting new adventure that features one of his best twists and most shocking endings yet. Trust me, whatever you do, do not miss this book."
-The Real Book Spy
"A complex, engrossing mystery...a powerful multilayered plot that keeps the reader guessing until the last page."
-Durango Herald
"Intriguing, entertaining, suspenseful....With exciting scenes and fascinating storylines that converge, this fantastic thriller felt authentic and timely."
-Mystery and Suspense
-Publishers Weekly (starred)
"Like a patient spider, Box plays out plotline after plotline, balancing his sympathies adroitly between anti-establishment libertarians who've had enough of the coastal elites and officers sworn to serve and protect their communities, before knotting them all together with a climactic revelation that for better or worse will leave you gasping. One of the most successful of Box's increasingly ambitious have-it-all thrillers."
-Kirkus Reviews(starred)
"Box keeps all the balls in the air, culminating in an ending sequence that's pure gold and extremely satisfying on multiple levels."
-BookPage (starred)
"This very tense twenty-third entry in Box's legendary Series…keeps timely, introducing crypto mining, gun control, and political extremism into the plot. The sparkling dialogue and rich characterizations again testify to Box's storytelling prowess."
-Booklist
"C.J. Box shows yet again why he's one of the best storytellers alive today with Storm Watch, a riveting new adventure that features one of his best twists and most shocking endings yet. Trust me, whatever you do, do not miss this book."
-The Real Book Spy
"A complex, engrossing mystery...a powerful multilayered plot that keeps the reader guessing until the last page."
-Durango Herald
"Intriguing, entertaining, suspenseful....With exciting scenes and fascinating storylines that converge, this fantastic thriller felt authentic and timely."
-Mystery and Suspense
Readers Top Reviews
Kindle Kindle FL C
Five stars doesn't do this Joe Pickett extravaganza justice, as this compelling series of ongoing excitement is the very best Joe Pickett series of events ever! The storylines are outstandingly descriptive and the excitement only intensifies with each new adventure! The character selection will keep you guessing who can, and cannot, be trusted throughout the entirety of these ongoing adventures! Most definitely recommend all Joe Pickett books to everyone, but this one is must read for all readers!!!🤗
Pat
I have all of the Joe Pickett books and have loved every one.it's just too long between books. I read all of his Cody Hoyt books until he was replaced with Cassie Dewell. The Dewell books are not nearly as enjoyable as the Hoyt books. C.J. Box is a phenomenal writer right up there with Reavis Wortham.
Chas Martel
Another wild yet somewhat plausible tale set around Saddlestring, Wyo. There are prominent roles by all the usual heroes of the Joe Pickett series. The newer character of Geronimo Jones adds a bit of humor as a non-native Wyomingite. This is one of the best stories in the series as Box continues to hone his craft as a spinner of tales. Highly Recommended.
Mark Morgan
The characters were interesting and the plot, though a bit unrealistic in places was a current take on what could happen today. I’m pretty sure that in real life, that many dead bodies would not end with: let’s all go to the local steakhouse…I’m buying. And off they go! But that is part of the enjoyment of reading fiction. There is a somewhat plausible plot surrounded by some whacked out action. Entertaining to read.
noteman
Box has populated this one with representatives of all our worst pols. That made it fun. The end feels very rushed and leaves many issues unresolved. Another cliff hanger? I hate that. Wanted to know how all the bodies at Molvar's house were dealt with, why after Holmes was dead Nate says we have to watch out for him, how Molvar walked after being shot in the back of his knee, how and when did Joe realize the fed weren't legit, who went to jail and who didn't, etc. 5 star fun but 3 stars for too many loose ends.
Short Excerpt Teaser
Chapter One
Late March in the foothills of the Bighorn Mountains wasn't yet spring by any means, but there were a growing number of days when spring could be dreamt of.
For Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett, this wasn't one of those days. This was a day that would both start and end with blood on the snow.
At midday, he climbed out of the cab of his replacement green Ford F-150 pickup and pulled on coveralls and a winter parka over his red uniform shirt and wool Filson vest. He'd had the foresight to layer up that morning before leaving his house, and he was also wearing merino wool long johns and thick wool socks. He buckled knee-high nylon gaiters over his lace-up Sorel pack boots, then placed his hat crown-down on the dashboard and replaced it with a thick wool rancher's cap with the earflaps down.
On the open tailgate of his vehicle, he filled a light daypack with gear: water, snowshoes, camera, necropsy kit, extra ammo, ticket book, binoculars, sat phone. While he did so, he shot a glance at the storm cloud shrouding the mountains and muting the sun. A significant "weather event" had been predicted by the National Weather Service for southern Montana and northern Wyoming. Joe didn't question it. It felt like snow was coming, maybe a lot of it, and he needed to find an injured elk cow and put her out of her misery before the storm roared down from those mountains and engulfed him.
The interstate highway had closed an hour before, as it so often did because of heavy snowfall, high winds, and vehicle crashes. The winter, thus far, had been brutal. Storm after storm since Christmas, and very little melting. The snowpack in the mountains was one hundred and fifty percent of normal, which was a relief after several years of drought, but getting through it had been cruel. During his lifetime in the Rocky Mountains, Joe had rarely been bothered by long winters, but this year was different. He was getting tired of constant snow making everything he did more difficult.
He was located fifteen miles from Saddlestring on a paved but potholed county road that ran east to west, parallel to the foothills. It was on that road that morning that a young male driver en route to a Montana ski resort for spring break had taken a shortcut from the interstate highway. He'd apparently been looking at the navigation app on his smartphone screen when he plowed into a small herd of elk crossing the road.
The driver's car was totaled and had been towed away. The driver himself was under observation at the Twelve Sleep County Medical Center for an injury sustained when he bounced his forehead off his steering wheel upon impact. Two elk had been killed in the collision. A third elk, the cow Joe was after, had been seen by a state trooper who had responded to the accident call. On three good legs, the elk had somehow leapt over the fence beside the road and had last been seen limping away toward the mountains.
Joe had heard about the incident over his radio while he'd been in another corner of his district looking for another problematic animal: a one-hundred-and-twenty-pound wolf that had gutted two yearling calves within sight of a rancher's home. By the time Joe had responded, the wolf had gone and the rancher was furious.
Joe had photographed the dead yearlings as well as the massive wolf tracks in the snow, and he'd opened up an official incident report that would be forwarded to his agency, who would forward it to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The two yearlings had had their throats ripped out and they'd been disemboweled. The scene looked as if someone had dropped balloons filled with blood from a great height and they'd exploded on the hard-packed snow.
It was the fifth verified wolf kill of the current winter, and that was becoming a problem. Especially since there weren't supposed to be wolves in the area at all.
Joe knew that assumption was incorrect. He'd personally seen a big black alpha male and other wolves in the pack during the last decade. He usually saw them at times of danger or stress-so out of concern for the pack, he rarely mentioned seeing anything at all.
The rancher had crossed his arms across his chest and blamed Joe personally for the the wolves, since Joe worked for the state, which is to say the government, and it was the government that had introduced wolves back into Wyoming in the first place.
Joe had stood there and let the rancher blow off steam before speaking.
"You know that was the feds, right?" he'd asked the rancher. "Not us?"
"You're all the same," the rancher had said. "Bureaucrats paid with my tax money trying to ruin my way ...
Late March in the foothills of the Bighorn Mountains wasn't yet spring by any means, but there were a growing number of days when spring could be dreamt of.
For Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett, this wasn't one of those days. This was a day that would both start and end with blood on the snow.
At midday, he climbed out of the cab of his replacement green Ford F-150 pickup and pulled on coveralls and a winter parka over his red uniform shirt and wool Filson vest. He'd had the foresight to layer up that morning before leaving his house, and he was also wearing merino wool long johns and thick wool socks. He buckled knee-high nylon gaiters over his lace-up Sorel pack boots, then placed his hat crown-down on the dashboard and replaced it with a thick wool rancher's cap with the earflaps down.
On the open tailgate of his vehicle, he filled a light daypack with gear: water, snowshoes, camera, necropsy kit, extra ammo, ticket book, binoculars, sat phone. While he did so, he shot a glance at the storm cloud shrouding the mountains and muting the sun. A significant "weather event" had been predicted by the National Weather Service for southern Montana and northern Wyoming. Joe didn't question it. It felt like snow was coming, maybe a lot of it, and he needed to find an injured elk cow and put her out of her misery before the storm roared down from those mountains and engulfed him.
The interstate highway had closed an hour before, as it so often did because of heavy snowfall, high winds, and vehicle crashes. The winter, thus far, had been brutal. Storm after storm since Christmas, and very little melting. The snowpack in the mountains was one hundred and fifty percent of normal, which was a relief after several years of drought, but getting through it had been cruel. During his lifetime in the Rocky Mountains, Joe had rarely been bothered by long winters, but this year was different. He was getting tired of constant snow making everything he did more difficult.
He was located fifteen miles from Saddlestring on a paved but potholed county road that ran east to west, parallel to the foothills. It was on that road that morning that a young male driver en route to a Montana ski resort for spring break had taken a shortcut from the interstate highway. He'd apparently been looking at the navigation app on his smartphone screen when he plowed into a small herd of elk crossing the road.
The driver's car was totaled and had been towed away. The driver himself was under observation at the Twelve Sleep County Medical Center for an injury sustained when he bounced his forehead off his steering wheel upon impact. Two elk had been killed in the collision. A third elk, the cow Joe was after, had been seen by a state trooper who had responded to the accident call. On three good legs, the elk had somehow leapt over the fence beside the road and had last been seen limping away toward the mountains.
Joe had heard about the incident over his radio while he'd been in another corner of his district looking for another problematic animal: a one-hundred-and-twenty-pound wolf that had gutted two yearling calves within sight of a rancher's home. By the time Joe had responded, the wolf had gone and the rancher was furious.
Joe had photographed the dead yearlings as well as the massive wolf tracks in the snow, and he'd opened up an official incident report that would be forwarded to his agency, who would forward it to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The two yearlings had had their throats ripped out and they'd been disemboweled. The scene looked as if someone had dropped balloons filled with blood from a great height and they'd exploded on the hard-packed snow.
It was the fifth verified wolf kill of the current winter, and that was becoming a problem. Especially since there weren't supposed to be wolves in the area at all.
Joe knew that assumption was incorrect. He'd personally seen a big black alpha male and other wolves in the pack during the last decade. He usually saw them at times of danger or stress-so out of concern for the pack, he rarely mentioned seeing anything at all.
The rancher had crossed his arms across his chest and blamed Joe personally for the the wolves, since Joe worked for the state, which is to say the government, and it was the government that had introduced wolves back into Wyoming in the first place.
Joe had stood there and let the rancher blow off steam before speaking.
"You know that was the feds, right?" he'd asked the rancher. "Not us?"
"You're all the same," the rancher had said. "Bureaucrats paid with my tax money trying to ruin my way ...
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