Recorded Books LLC has announced that the audio version of FREE FIRE will be available on CD and cassette August 27, 2007. The unabridged novel, narrated by actor David Chandler, is 10.75 hours long and costs $18.50 for ten cassettes or ten CD's. The audio version can be ordered at www.recordedbooks.com or from your favorite bookseller.

Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers have named C.J. Box their 2007/2008 Writer of the Year. C. J. Box is the author of the eight novels including the award-winning Joe Pickett series. He’s the winner of the Anthony Award, Prix Calibre 38 (France), the Macavity Award, the Gumshoe Award, the Barry Award, and an Edgar Award and L.A. Times Book Prize finalist. His novels have been cited by the New York Times (2001 Notable Book), Booksense 76, People Magazine, Booklist, and many other publications. His short stories have been featured in America’s Best Mystery Stories 2006 and limited-edition printings. The novels have been national bestsellers and have been translated into 12 languages. FREE FIRE (A Joe Pickett Novel) was published in May of 2007 by Penguin/Putnam and reached #29 on the New York Times Bestseller List. BLUE HEAVEN will be published by St. Martins Press in January 2008. Box is a Wyoming native and has worked as a ranch hand, surveyor, fishing guide, a small town newspaper reporter and editor, and he co-owns an international tourism marketing firm with his wife, Laurie. An avid outdoorsman, He serves on the Board of Directors for the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo. Box lives with his family outside of Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Neal Rubin Mystery writer spins tale with prof's findings You need not commit the perfect crime to get away with murder, as long as you pick the perfect place. Please do not consider that to be consumer information. As a general policy, The Detroit News does not encourage murder, or even simple assault. In East Lansing, however, a smart and perhaps alarmingly crafty associate professor found a 50-square-mile loophole in the law that might permit free-and-clear mayhem -- and his discovery has now been immortalized in a novel. "Free Fire," the latest mystery by C.J. Box about a Wyoming game warden named Joe Pickett, arrives in bookstores Thursday. It's inspired by an article in the Georgetown Law Journal by Brian Kalt of the Michigan State University College of Law. Dipping as briefly as possible into the legalities of it, the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says defendants are entitled to be tried by a jury from the state and legal district in which the crime occurred. Heaven knows why Kalt was looking, but he detected an oddity at Yellowstone National Park. The entire 3,472-square-mile park falls into the district of Wyoming, but small chunks of it sit in Idaho and Montana. "Say that you are in the Idaho portion of Yellowstone," Kalt said, "and you decide to spice up your vacation by going on a crime spree. You make some moonshine, you poach some wildlife, you strangle some people and steal their picnic baskets." As quickly as possible, the authorities would hustle you to Cheyenne for trial. But wait: The Constitution plainly says that the jury has to be from the state (Idaho) and district (Wyoming) in which the dastardly deeds were done. That would be Idaho's chunk of Yellowstone, where the population is exactly zero. Since there's no available jury, there can be no trial, which pretty much rules out a conviction. Kalt concedes that lesser charges might be brought in other states. And if you have evil intentions, you'd best act fast; a Wyoming senator is looking into closing the loophole. But for now, I'm thinking of Coleman Young's warning in that memorable first inaugural address: "To all those pushers, to all rip-off artists, to all muggers: It's time to leave Detroit; hit Eight Mile Road!" The part he forgot was, "Then head northwest for 1,550 miles -- and when you get to Old Faithful, turn left." Reach Neal Rubin at (313) 222-1874 or nrubin@detnews.com.

From Berkley / Penguingroup IN PLAIN SIGHT to debut in mass market paperback on May 1, 2007 LIBRARY JOURNAL named IN PLAIN SIGHT as the Best Mystery of 2006 # ISBN-10: 0425215792 # ISBN-13: 978-0425215791 List Price: $7.99 Available for pre-order now and available May 1 everywhere.

The Critics Are Raving... Publishers Weekly *STARRED REVIEW* raves, "...absorbing...his best yet...The author vividly evokes Yellowstone's natural beauty, but the book's real power emanates from Pickett's (and Box's) passion for preserving the wilderness and stopping those who would cynically destroy it." Library Journal *STARRED REVIEW* states, "...Box, winner of the Anthony, Macavity, Gumshoe, and Barry Mystery awards, knows how to turn on the nail-biting suspense and violence until the cliff-hanger of an ending...Highly recommended." Booklist *STARRED REVIEW* says, "...Though Joe's far out in no-man's-land, as professionally on his own as he's ever been, the family man's moral compass is as strong as ever. And setting the action in the bubbling Yellowstone caldera--which could blow sky high any minute, we're told--is a masterstroke, lending both urgency and the long view to the proceedings. Once again, recommended for practically everybody..." Kirkus calls FREE FIRE "One of the Hot Releases of 2007..."