"...In my book, C.J. Box is now the best mystery writer out there...Force of Nature is a wild ride!"

"...In my book, C.J. Box is now the best mystery writer out there in today's market.  He is fine-tuning his style with each new adventure, and his books keep getting better and better, continually raising the bar not only for himself, but all other writers as well...
 
I had been out of town when the Force of Nature manuscript arrived, so it was a few days before I was able to get to it.  When I did, I sat by the wood stove in my little cabin in the woods, and just sat with a huge smile on my face for a few minutes anticipating the story to come.  CJ Box fans have been eager for years now to get hold of a real Nate Romanowski story, and I had in my hands the real deal, way before anyone else!  Force of Nature delivers the goods.  It is a white-knuckle Jeep ride through the (still) Wild West with the reader riding shotgun with Nate Romanowski behind the wheel.  There is a bumper sticker common with Jeepers here in Kentucky "Get In - Sit Down - Hang On - Shut Up" and I can certainly picture one on the back window of Nate's Wrangler.  I could smell the dust in the Jeep's heater as I page-turned the roller coaster ride through snow-covered mountains, watching the body count mount as Joe and Nate careened toward the enevitable showdown, all the while uncovering the dark, closely-held secrets and demons of Nate's past.   Story events exploded rapid fire with the shock and punch of Romanowski's 50 caliber hand cannon, making me eager to get to the next page and bend in the road, all the while with my pulse racing and my ears ringing from the Causill's explosive discharge.
 
Joe Pickett continues to be the hero and star that he is for all Box fans out here.  As Joe says "But I really do believe there's nothing wrong with doing your best and doing the right thing.  Just because you have a badge and a gun, doesn't mean you're any better than these folks...  I screw up sometimes, but I'd rather screw up trying to do the right thing than looking the other way."   Joe is real, he's human, he's believable.  The other characters are just as well cast in their roles as well.  All a tribute to the skill, talent, and fertile creativity of the author.  The comment has been made around here that Joe Pickett is a mix of John Wayne and Daniel Boone...
 
As Nate says to Joe as the blood stops flowing and the cordite smell drifts away "It's been a wild ride."  It is all of that and more, reading Force of Nature has been a wild ride!
 
Regards,
 
Bill Gordon
Master Bookseller
Joseph-Beth Booksellers
Lexington, KY