Trophy Hunt

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This time, I wanted to write a mystery. Of course, the previous Joe Pickett novels are considered mysteries, or thrillers set in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming. With Trophy Hunt, I set out to construct a full-fledged mystery filled with death and deception that will keep the reader in suspense until the last pages – and, I hope, thinking about it long afterward. My intention is to challenge the reader to note important clues (they’re there) in a hard-charging story involving murders and mutilations, a rogue grizzly bear, self-proclaimed experts in the paranormal, twists and double-twists, and an investigation that leads toward an unexpected, and (for Joe) deeply unsettling conclusion.

My novels include environmental issues that are integral
to the modern West. Trophy Hunt is no different. The boom
in coal bed methane development in the Rocky Mountains has
literally transformed the terrain – and the economy
– in ways both good and bad. I was researching the
issue for background when something entirely unrelated happened:
the discovery of dozens of mutilated cattle in Montana.
Remembering the stories of cattle mutilations from my youth,
I contacted the lead reporter covering the story and she
supplied me with clippings, reports, and extremely disturbing
photos. The details of the deaths were eerily similar: no
obvious cause of death; faces and genitals surgically removed;
no tire tracks, footprints, or evidence near the bodies;
and, strangest of all, the bodies were untouched by natural
predators. I knew as I leafed through the documents that
Joe Pickett would have a new case - one that would test
his sense of reality.

Joe Pickett has been compared to Gary Cooper by both reviewers
and the actor’s only daughter for his quiet, but determined,
approach. Imagine Joe’s frustration and self-doubt
when the evidence points to something he simply will not
let himself believe in?

As the pressure mounts and the rural citizens of the area
look ominously at the big sky and form their own conclusions,
Joe strikes off on his own, and is plunged into a world
filled with twisted motives, hidden agendas, long-held secrets,
and the gnarled black heart of an age-old mystery.

It's an idyllic late summer day in Saddlestring, Wyoming, and game warden Joe Pickett is fly-fishing with his two daughters when he stumbles upon the mutilated body of a moose. Whatever-or whoever-attacked the animal was ruthless: Half the animal's face has been sliced away, the skin peeled back from the flesh. Shaken by the assault, Pickett begins to investigate what he hopes is an isolated incident.

Days later, after the discovery of a small herd of mutilated cattle, Pickett realizes this is something much bigger. Local authorities are quick to label the attacks the work of a grizzly bear, but Joe knows otherwise. The cuts on the moose and the cattle were too clean, too precise to have been made by jagged teeth. Are the animals only practice for a killer about to move on to a different, more challenging prey?

Joe's worst fears are realized when the bodies of two men are discovered within days of each other, their wounds eerily similar to those found on the moose and cattle. There's a vicious killer, a modern-day Jack the Ripper, on the loose in The Bighorn Mountains - and it appears his rampage is just beginning.

The Reviews Are In...

"...evocative descriptions..."

0

In the vast expanse of Wyoming, where hunting is a way of life, game warden Joe Pickett is used to catching poachers squatting beside the half-skinned carcasses of deer or elk.

Philadelphia Inquirer

Starred Review

0

Box's riveting fourth Joe Pickett adventure (after 2003's Winterkill) opens on a disturbing note, with the Wyoming game warden's chance discovery of the oddly mutilated body of a moose near his favori

Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

"...vividly evokes life in the West..."

0

The events at the center of Box’s fourth novel featuring game warden Joe Pickett make the fate of the Donner Party look like a square dance.

PEOPLE Magazine

"...continues his run of excellence in Trophy Hunt..."

0

"I want to get inside his head, see what makes him tick. Find out what he's thinking and why he came here. And who sent him."

Rocky Mountain News

"...is lean and strong of plot..."

0

I've come to really like the Joe Pickett series by C.J. Box. Pickett is a good hero.

San Jose Mercury News

"...Trophy Hunt is a choice mystery; spooky, poignant, thrilling and rugged..."

0

For an author like Chuck Box, it's hard to constantly better yourself when
your first novel wins a whopping four prestigious mystery awards. But when

Jackson (MS) Clarion Ledger

"...For readers, it's a good ride..."

0

In the Joe Pickett series by C.J. Box, Pickett is a good hero.

Knight Ridder Newspaper Services

"...action-packed, compelling..."

0

Two authors from our American West have written action-packed, compelling
stories that are vastly different while sharing many similarities that guarantee
lively reads.

Denver Post

"...there's nothing wrong with being merely excellent..."

0

Box, whose superb Joe Pickett series has nailed some great western issues (ecoterrorism, endangered species, survivalists), here draws a bead on one out in left field: cattle mutilations.

Booklist

"...Trophy Hunt offers a new dimension to Pickett's character..."

0

Author C. J. Box mines Hillerman territory in Trophy Hunt, his fourth novel featuring Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett.

Bookpage

"...A lyrical thriller..."

0

In Saddlestring, Wyoming, game warden Joe Pickett and his two daughters are fishing when they see dead fish floating in the water.

Bookcrossing.com

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Poll

Who would be the best Jess Rawlins if the BLUE HEAVEN movie is actually made?
Clint Eastwood
7%
Harrison Ford
9%
Sam Elliott
71%
Gene Hackman
0%
Tommy Lee Jones
7%
Robert Duvall
5%
Total votes: 55

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