"...another brilliant voice from the American West..."

C. J. Box is another brilliant voice from the American West. His series featuring game warden Joe Pickett is set among the mountains and forests of Wyoming. People hunt, fish and eat meat, and they do it without apology.

The story begins as a Wyoming game warden cooks and eats four and a half pounds of meat. After finishing, he takes out a gun and blows his head off. He was a close friend of Pickett, who's selected to cover his range temporarily. That takes Joe from his comfortable small Wyoming town into the rich and powerful city of Jackson Hole. Joe finds out quickly that no one is very concerned about why the game warden killed himself. The consensus is he was having some sort of breakdown.

The local powerbrokers quickly try to co-opt Pickett. There are conflicts over pricey hunting and outfitting camps, and developers who want to build mansions in fields where deer and bear roam. Besides being a fine mystery, this is a great way to learn about the complex world of big game, and the wardens who protect both the animals and the humans who hunt them. By MARGARET CANNON