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OUT OF RANGE
by C. J. Box
Corvus, June 2011
384 pages
7.99 GBP
ISBN: 1848878044


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

This is the fifth book in the Joe Pickett series but you needn't have read the first four in order to be gripped by the story; the setting alone will do that. Yellowstone Park and the razor-tipped Tetons are the backdrop to the adventure that unfolds as Joe tracks a wounded grizzly bear before taking up his new post in Jackson.

The natives aren't a friendly bunch, although one or two befriend Pickett, notably Mary Seels, who runs the state building where Joe works, and Stella Ennis, who 'zings' our hero's heart (and loins).

Pickett quickly makes a bunch of enemies, including Stella's husband, Don, whose plans to build a Good Meat Community had been thwarted by Will Jensen and may now be opposed by Joe. Bureaucrats in the state building, ex-sheriffs with a grudge against Joe, and animal rights protestors make up the remainder of a memorable cast of characters. But it's the scenery that steals the show, a great sprawling vista where the story plays out like a western with bar brawls, mountain shoot-outs and a great scene where Pickett rides back into town with a corpse slung across his pack horse.

The style and confidence with which Box describes his settings and characters makes us expect twists and surprises that are equally stylish, but even when these fall short the reading experience is enjoyable. In Pickett, Box has created a likeable hero with whose weaknesses win our sympathies and whose innate decency has us rooting for his victory over the narrow minds and bigotry he encounters on his quest.

That said, a couple of the nastier characters shine out as studies in local colour. Sheriff Bud Barnum is as nasty as they come, a bitter drunk with a big opinion of himself, but compelling to read thanks to Box's deft hand at characterisation. Smoke Van Horn is even better, a rough-hewn man who smells of horses and leather, and who could've been carved from the Tetons. His standoff with Pickett is one of the book's best moments.

Given that this is a long-running series, there's never any real fear that our hero won't make it home to his wife and kids. But it's fun to watch him do battle with the villains and to try to set his corner of the world straight. This is a series that deserves to run and run, not least because Box has taken such pains to make it credible and compelling.

§ Sarah Hilary is an award-winning short story author, currently working on a debut crime novel.

Reviewed by Sarah Hilary, September 2011

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