"Box writes vividly..."

C.J. Box has done it again with this third appearance of Joe Pickett, who lives and works in Saddlestring, Wyo. The action opens just before Christmas in Twelve Sleep County with the threat of a major snowstorm. Just as Pickett encounters a bizarre and fatal event in the mountains, the huge snowstorm unleashes its fury.

Pickett, a Wyoming game warden, is an overworked, underpaid public servant with a messy home life. He is not a typical macho, unfettered, superman who flits here and there to save the day. In fact, Pickett is infamous for arresting the governor for fishing without a license. This hero is very unlikely, which provides a lot of his charm. Another fact unique to the Pickett books is that Joe's family situation is ingrained into the drama of each story and different members contribute to the action and drama.

Pickett's family consists of wife Marybeth and three daughters. One of them, 9-year-old April, became their foster child after her mother abandoned her. Sheridan, 11, and Lucy, who is 6, have had three years to welcome April into the family. The Pickett family peace is disrupted when Missy, Marybeth's spoiled mother, stays with them after her plane is grounded and then becomes snowbound along with everybody else in the county.

Box's subtle humor tinges his depiction of Joe and his situation both at home and work. When told that his mother-in-law will be staying indefinitely, Box writes... "Joe greeted the news with the false courage he hoped he would display one day when the doctor told him he had one month to live."

The beautiful Wyoming wilderness (lyrically described by Box) is sullied by the apparent breakdown by Lamar Gardiner, the district supervisor of the Big Sleep National Forest, who takes out a small herd of elk in a disturbing scene where Box's description of the insane slaughter is gut-wrenching and sickening.

After confronting Gardiner, Pickett ends up chasing him through the blizzard where he makes an even more grisly discovery. Gardiner has paid for his crime. When Pickett returns to town he is confronted by his sometime nemesis, the local sheriff who says... " 'Tell me, Warden Pickett,' Barnum drawled, his voice hard, 'Why is it that every time someone gets murdered in my county, you're always in the middle of it?"'

The apparent easy solution to the slaying doesn't satisfy Pickett. After he is called by the accused, Nate Romanowski, and meets with him in his cell, he is more convinced that this rush to judgment is wrong. Romanowski is a loner, bow hunter and a falconer who has a mysterious past. Something about him makes Pickett pursue his doubts alone, since according to the sheriff and Gardiner's replacement, the case is closed.

In each Pickett story, Box includes a major issue that concerns life in the American West. In "Open Season," it was the Endangered Species Act, in "Winterkill," the issue is land use and just who should be in control. There are so many agencies in charge - the Forest Service, BLM, Fish and Wildlife, and other state agencies as well. Their interagency turf battles over rights and controlling interests are complicated by the recent growth of antigovernment groups entering the melee.

In the middle of his murder investigation, more tension is heaped on the county and its law enforcement agencies with the arrival of the Sovereign Citizens of the Nation of the Rocky Mountains, who proceed to squat in a campground on Battle Mountain. Pickett really gets stressed when he has to deal with newly arrived Forest Service official Melinda Strickland. He gets the feeling that she is the head of a task force in search of a task. As his interactions with Strickland become more frequent, Pickett fears for the peace and safety of the mountains.

By the end of this gripping story, and for the second time, Pickett's life is profoundly changed and his family will never be the same.

Box has created an enduring and multifaceted character that seems to dictate that every book that follows will have more avid readers waiting for Pickett's latest adventure. This could be attributed to Box having created a wonderful character who not only appeals to men but also to women.

Box has a winning combo with his cast of characters, engaging plot and the description of a special land, which he uses effectively as a major part of the action. Box writes vividly, appealing to all the senses, especially smell, adding to the reality and immediacy of several major scenes. "Winterkill" has all the right elements in the proper order, all packed with a huge punch.

Leslie Doran is a freelance writer from Durango.