After 2024’s novel, “Three-Inch Teeth,” and its shocking and life-altering events, author C.J. Box follows up with his 25th Joe Pickett novel, “Battle Mountain.”
It’s October in Wyoming and almost time for elk hunting season to open. Joe is a state game warden based in Saddlestring and lives with his wife, Marybeth. Marybeth is in charge of the local library, and she has often helped Joe in the past with her well honed internet research skills. Box has created a well loved Western series that includes the protagonist’s family, unlike many other novelists who feature lone, rambling heroes.
As this story opens, Joe, Marybeth and close friend Nate Romanowski are still reeling from the savage losses of friends and loved ones. Nate has disappeared and no one knows where he has landed. Joe’s oldest daughter, Sheridan, is running Nate’s business in his absence. Joe and Marybeth are taking care of Nate’s toddler daughter, Kestrel. Although things are momentarily quiet, that changes when Joe gets a call from the governor.
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“Battle Mountain,” by C.J. Box, is available at Maria’s Bookshop, 960 Main Ave.
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Gov. Spencer Rulon is an unicorn in that he is popular in a deeply red state despite the fact that he is a Democrat. Back in office after a four-year break, he reaches out, yet again, to Joe, his favorite personal “Range Rider.” It seems that his son-in-law, Mark, and veteran hunting outfitter, Spike, are missing. The governor wants Joe to go south on the down low to try to find them. Spencer doesn’t want his wife and daughter to know something is wrong because he is the one who arranged for Mark to get some outdoor education with an old friend. The two are supposed to be scouting out a location on Battle Mountain for Spike’s annual elk hunting camp before the season starts.
Meanwhile, Nate is in survival mode. He is living off the land with only the company of two of his falcons. Fellow falconer and former Special Forces veteran Geronimo Jones has a situation of his own that dovetails with Nate’s plan for revenge against rogue falconer and deadly Axel Soledad. When Geronimo finds Nate, they join forces to find and eliminate the still very real threat of Axel to both their remaining families and Joe’s.
Joe travels to Warm Springs, which is close to Battle Mountain, and teams up with a new game warden, Susan Kany. Even though she not as experienced as Joe, she knows more about the local community and wilderness. She tells him he has arrived during a special week. It is the annual meeting of “The Centurions.” The small local airport is stuffed with private jets from all over the country but mostly from the East Coast. The attendees are big wheels in industry and the military and are influential in making the country’s policies and major decisions. They all stay at local, private and very upscale ranch. This traditional gathering has been going on for more than 60 years.
Axel, meanwhile, is on a mission of his own. He has surrounded himself with a gang of former military soldiers and also some young and idealistic activists, whom he intends to use to strike a major blow to the “establishment elite.” Like some others in the American West who hate the government, these people have varying issues with the powers that be.
In this new thriller, Box has created three forces, each with a mission but none of them aware of each others’ goals, and turned them loose. So things will undoubtedly get “real Western” when Battle Mountain comes into view.
Box is a master of using the amazing landscapes of Wyoming to set his characters. Sometimes, the location becomes a character and helps shape the action. His secondary characters are fully formed and interesting. In this episode, he rotates in characters that were in previous novels and gives them new roles. This keeps the series fresh and appealing. “Battle Mountain” is yet another well crafted page-turner from C.J. Box.
Leslie Doran is a retired teacher and freelance writer.
