game wardens

In 2001, C.J. Box released his first novel featuring Joe Pickett, a game warden from Twelve Sleep Wyoming. Establishing Pickett as a man with a strong moral compass and fierce devotion to his friends and family, it isn’t hard to see why Box has written nineteen additional stories featuring this classic western archetype.

As an introduction to Joe Pickett, Open Season drops the reader into one of his first days on the job as the new game warden in town. Somewhat bumbling, but with a clear respect for the rule of law above all else, he is not well liked in town. This is to be expected, coming

Witness to the murder of Marshall and Sylvia Hotle, April needs to find a phone.

Joe Pickett needs to get back to Saddlestring, Wyoming and his family.

Sheridan, Joe’s daughter, needs to find April. But April is dead.

While Joe is working in exile as a game warden in remote Wyoming, Sheridan receives a text from someone claiming to be her step-sister April. As evidence mounts that the texts are coming from the locations of violent crimes Joe and Sheridan track April across Wyoming. Or are they tracking a killer?

Witness to the murder of Marshall and Sylvia Hotle, April needs to find a phone. Joe Pickett needs to get back to Saddlestring, Wyoming and his family. Sheridan, Joe’s daughter, needs to find April. But April is dead. While Joe is working in exile as a game warden in remote Wyoming, Sheridan receives a text from someone claiming to be her step-sister April. As evidence mounts that the texts are coming from the locations of violent crimes Joe and Sheridan track April across Wyoming. Or are they tracking a killer?