A wild Wyoming saga
The land plays a fateful role in this tale of two families.
In his new, novel, "In Plain Sight," C.J. Box continues the saga of Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett's life. In Pickett, Box has created a homey, everyman hero who is married with two daughters, Sheridan and Lucy. His family proves essential in driving the storyline.

Pickett is responsible for covering the extensive territory of Twelve Sleep County and traveling vast distances with his faithful yellow Lab, Maxine. He is overworked and underpaid, but he's passionate about his job. He is also ethical and honest; not even the governor escaped getting a ticket.

"In Plain Sight" introduces a new family to the action. The Scarletts, a pioneer ranching family, have been a leading power in the county since 1883. They are a major dysfunctional unit. Opal, the matriarch, is a force of nature who doesn't suffer fools. Her three sons, Arlen, Hank and Wyatt, want to inherit the family 1,000-acre Thunderhead Ranch. As the story opens, the ranch has been unofficially divided in half, with Hank on one side and Opal, Arlen and Wyatt on the other.

Opal, not the most loving of mothers, has fueled a fierce competition between Arlen and Hank since they were kids. Wyatt, the youngest, is large, soft and slow, and most people forget there even is a third brother. Arlen, the eldest, is a powerful state senator, while Hank is a big-game guide and outfitter.

Pickett is drawn into this drama by a wild and bloody fight, which reveals that Opal is missing. This brings into question just who is going to inherit the ranch - and the money. Greed had remained hidden while Opal was around, but now it has bloomed with a vengeance.

As this family's story unravels, another family's loss is brought into the action with the arrival in Wyoming of a stranger from Georgia. This stranger is out for revenge, and Pickett and his family are fixed in the crosshairs of the stranger's sense of loss and rage. When the two meet, Pickett thinks the stranger looks familiar, but he just can't place him. Box takes the title of the book from the stranger's musings about how the antelope hide in plain sight on the wild and open land in Wyoming, whereas in Georgia the critters hide in the dense undergrowth.

In his job, Pickett is in a bad situation after the appointment of a new head of his department. The new governor
(a Democrat in a state where 70 percent are Republicans) is an eccentric character and has appointed Randy Pope to the job. Since Pickett and Pope have a history, Pope is making Pickett's life miserable.

Box poignantly describes this situation: "Pope was a master of the bureaucratic Death of a Thousand Cuts, the slow, steady, petty, and maddening procedure designed to drive an employee out of a state or federal agency." For instance, Pickett used to file weekly reports but now must report directly to Pope daily. Pope also issues Pickett an old and unreliable truck with 150,000 miles on the odometer. Not the best pick for a man who has to travel far and wide on unpopulated roads. Pickett is sure that his job is circling the drain and it is only a matter of time before Pope succeeds in eliminating it.

Box creates different, sympathetic characters who are surrounded by equally interesting people. Pickett's friend, Nate Romanowski, is one example. A mysterious falconer with a hidden past, Nate has been gone for six months, only to show up just as Pickett is in a desperate situation.

Box places his characters in beautiful and slightly wild locales and then sets up situations that grab the imagination and take readers on thrilling and dangerous adventures. Spring in Wyoming presents fascinating weather challenges that Box uses to full effect.

By the end of this gripping story, Pickett's life is profoundly changed, and his family's future is uncertain at best. This new novel has all the right elements in the proper order, all packed with the right punch. The ending is riveting and shocking.

By Leslie Doran, Leslie Doran is a freelance writer in Durango.