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

One major characteristic shared by C.J. Box ("Trophy Hunt") and Clinton
McKinzie ("Crossing the Line") is that with their fourth novels they have both hit
their stride.

Both novels are set mainly in Wyoming with a lot of the action taking place
outdoors. The two books have other similarities: Both contain main characters
who have strained relationships with the FBI; those characters travel with their
dogs; and family members are essential in driving the story line.

McKinzie, a Denver-area resident, grew up in California and was a deputy
district attorney in both Douglas and Arapahoe counties. He is a committed
climber who uses his passion and knowledge of the sport to create terrific
scenes in his thrillers.

Box, a Wyoming native, came to a writing career after a long work history
studded with jobs that included ranch hand, surveyor and small-town reporter.
Box and his wife operate a tourism marketing firm.

In "Trophy Hunt," he has created a homey, everyman hero in Joe Pickett, a
Wyoming state game warden. Pickett is married with two daughters and is
responsible for covering the vast territory near Saddlestring with his yellow Lab,
Maxine.

On Pickett's first case, he lost his gun to a poacher. His reputation has suffered
ever since. Pickett and his wife have endured several tragedies over the past
three books, and in "Trophy Hunt" they are continuing to struggle with finances.

Fly-fishing with his two daughters, Sheridan, 12, and Lucy, 7, Joe discovers the
remains of a moose. The body has been surgically mutilated, and no predators
have disturbed the corpse. Before this discovery, a "missing" grizzly that had
gotten away from Yellowstone already had the locals worried.

As Joe feared, the dead moose is not an isolated incident and more animals,
even domesticated ones, become victims. When people are added to the list of
the dead, everyone, including the governor, demands a stop to the carnage.
Though the grizzly is blamed for the attacks, Joe knows there is more to the
story.

As his wife, Marybeth, puts more hours into her bookkeeping business, the
family suffers without her attention to the little details of life. When things seem
the bleakest, more bad news hits.

In "Crossing the Line," the hero is Antonio Burns, an agent of the Wyoming
Bureau of Investigation. He travels with wolf-dog Mungo.

Anton has a sticky family situation. His girlfriend, Rebecca, a reporter for The
Denver Post, is pregnant and has refused to marry him. Anton's colorful boss
and her godfather, Ross McGee, complicates both Anton's personal and
professional life. Anton's brother, Roberto, is a convicted felon and drug addict
who is a famous and reckless mountain climber. Despite being on opposite
sides of the law, the brothers share a love of climbing.

When "Crossing the Line" opens, the FBI has just recruited Roberto as an
informant to help bring down Jess Hidalgo, a deadly and infamous Mexican
drug kingpin living in a remote Wyoming location. The two-person FBI team also
has asked that Anton be assigned to them to help with the investigation. In
exchange, Roberto will get amnesty for his past convictions and recent escape
from prison.

McKinzie creates an untenable situation for Anton and then makes it go from
bad to worse.

When the story ends with a crashing and traumatic series of events, several
threads running through Anton's life are either hanging or severed. Anton
makes decisions that change him forever.

What both Box and McKinzie have managed to do is create sympathetic
characters surrounded by interesting people.

The authors then place these groups in beautiful and slightly wild locales,
setting up situations that grab the imagination.

By Leslie Doran; Leslie Doran is a freelance writer who lives in Durango.