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    Open Season
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    Open Season
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    Open Season
    Ebook303 pages4 hours

    Open Season

    By C. J. Box

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Winner of the Anthony Award for Best First Novel
    Winner of the Gumshoe Award for Best First Novel
    Winner of the Barry Award for Best First Novel
    Winner of the Macavity Award for Best First Novel

    There's nothing unusual about the sound of a gunshot in Twelve Sleep. Here in remotest Wyoming, where elk roam the pine forests and cougars prowl the mountains, everyone owns a gun. But when Joe Pickett hears two sharp cracks ring out months before hunting season, it's his job to investigate.

    As game warden in Twelve Sleep, father-of-two Joe Pickett is not only badly paid and poorly housed, but deeply unpopular. So when the source of the shots - a well-known poacher - gets off scott-free after a humiliating confrontation, the locals are delighted.

    And then the poacher turns up dead in the Pickett's backyard.

    Charged with investigating the first murder he's ever encountered, Joe soon finds himself swamped with questions. How did the dead man get to his house? What was in the empty cooler by his side? And why do his colleagues want to sweep the case under the rug? Battling grudge-holding neighbours, corrupt officials and out-of-town activists, Joe begins to unravel a mystery that threatens the life and the family he loves.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCorvus
    Release dateFeb 1, 2011
    ISBN9780857891822
    Author

    C. J. Box

    C.J. Box is the New York Times bestselling author of fifteen novels including the award-winning Joe Pickett series. Box has won the Edgar Award for Best Novel as well as the Anthony, Macavity, Barry, and Le Calibre .38 awards. His novels have been translated into twenty-five languages. Box lives outside of Cheyenne, Wyoming. 

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    Reviews for Open Season

    3.5/5

    495 ratings42 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this book! Loved the storyline and characters.
    • 3/5
      This is so guy-lit. Upright, thoughtfully taciturn game warden with everything at stake (pregnant wife, 2 daughters) pursues further information in a "closed" multiple murder. There really isn't much mystery as the bad guys are pretty totally telegraphed as is the MacGuffin The women are described in terms of physical attributes and are supportive, or wantons, or mother-in-laws, but not players.
    • 4/5
      I'll be reading the next Joe Pickett novel
    • 4/5
      From Book Cover:

      While still a Wyoming state game warden trainee, Joe Pickett ticketed a man fishing without a license. The man turned out to be the state governor. One week after being assigned to Twelve Sleep County, Joe fines outfitter Ote Keeley for shooting a buck out of season. However, Ote takes Joe's gun away and points it at the game warden's head before calmly accepting his ticket. Though he continues working hard, Joe has never fully recovered from the Keeley incident.
      A few months later, Keeley reenters Joe's life when his daughter finds the outfitter dead at the woodpile near the Pickett home. Next to the corpse is a cooler containing pellets of excrement. Joe and fellow warden Wacey Hedeman assist sheriff Bud Barnum with the investigation. However, soon Joe is in trouble with his superiors, his pregnant wife for jeopardizing his job, and with a killer trying to add a nosy game warden to the list.

      My Thoughts:
      An extremely good first novel, and we hope the writer has some more ideas to write about that will continue our attention to his special outlook.
    • 4/5
      The first novel of a series featuring Joe Pickett, a Wyoming game warden who get involved in a mystery with poachers, endangered species, big oil and some really nefarious characters. The setting is cool; Wyoming wilderness, family man, mystery. A tale of good guys gone bad. I especially liked the 4 year old girl, who acted like one.Think I'll have another book, thank you.
    • 3/5
      I've been meaning to try this series for a while. I enjoyed it. It's light reading and while the mystery wasn't very mysterious, I found the end with the daughter very suspenseful. If you're after a light short crime read then this will do.
    • 4/5
      I started reading this series years ago and I'm still trying to update my acct with all of the books I've read from before I joined GR. I don't remember offhand specific details about each book in this series but I liked it a lot because it's set in the back-country wilderness. I remember I had started reading it because I just got caught up on the Nevada Barr- Anna Pigeon series and I was looking for something similar. This one fit the bill. It's a great series especially if you like outdoor settings and mysteries.
    • 4/5
      Joe Pickett is a good character. Seems kind of innocent, but I liked that. He has to deal with people who are anything but innocent. Good murder mystery, and I like that the setting is in Wyoming and not some big city.
    • 4/5
      Joe Pickett, the protagonist of this, the first novel in the series, is your average kind of guy. A relatively new Fish and Game Warden in the Big Horn Mountain area of Wyoming, he has a nice family--wife, two young daughters--and a job he loves. Checking fish and game licenses, keeping track of hunters, fining those who take more than their limit, chasing elk out of ranchers' back yards--these duties don't prepare him for the murder of three outfitters, one of whom dies by his woodpile at home. Inadvertently involved in the investigation, Joe is not satisfied with the conclusion that a crazy old backwoods hermit has killed them in a fit of insanity.Meanwhile, his 8 year old daughter Sheridan and her younger sister Lucy discover 3 cute little creatures hiding in the woodpile. They take turns feeding the animals--breakfast cereal among other things--and keeping their existence secret from Joe and his wife, Marybeth; they've been forbidden to have any more small pets due to predators in the area.The "pets" however, turn out to be the last known members of Miller's weasels, a species thought extinct for about 100 years. These harmless and endearing animals are the key to the murders and to a terrifying assault on Joe's home in which his wife is shot and Sheridan runs for cover in the brush and semi-wilderness surrounding their home.The plot is good, although the writing is pretty ordinary. The characters, as perhaps is fitting for their location in rural Wyoming, are not complicated people but extremely likeable. Joe in particular is no super hero, but the kind of Everyman who manages to let a poacher take his gun away from him! Yet he rises to the occasion when his family is threatened.The plot depends on the Endangered Species Act; every chapter is preceded by a section from the Act or quotation from a book describing the unforeseen consequences of the Act. While Joe is clearly a conservationist, Box, through events and characterizations, presents a broad spectrum of opinions among the ranchers and inhabitants of the area. At the end, we get an ironic view of what can happen when the environmentalists and scientists literally almost love a species to its death. While it's no doubt true, the treatment is rather heavy-handed and awkward.Overall, this is a good read despite the limitations of the writing. There is a real sense of terror in the threat to Sheridan and the climax is particularly well done. The environmental issues are presented in a well-balanced and thoughtful way as an integral part of the plot. A good book.
    • 4/5
      I've heard great things about C.J. Box's books, and I wasn't disappointed upon trying this first of his mystery series featuring Joe Pickett. Pickett is a Wyoming Game Warden who becomes suspicious after a man he had had some dealing with in the past turns up dead at his back door. His superiors warn him off investigating, but Pickett is convinced there is more to this death than he is being told. He begins to make discoveries that could mean an endangered animal is being threatened--but that doesn't compare to the threat to his own family that develops.The mystery element is well done, and the environmental angle added a lot of depth to the story. Pickett's family life was also well portrayed, although I felt sorry for the way they were put in danger. Those that like mysteries and especially those that are interested in environmental issues or enjoy stories set in the great outdoors will enjoy this one.
    • 4/5
      This is the first book in another series that I've heard about for years but haven't gotten around to reading until now - sure glad that that people on DorothyL keep talking about these great series so that eventually I work my way toward them.

      Joe Pickett is a Warden for the Game, Fish and Parks in Wyoming. He is relatively new at the job and does make a few mistakes (makes him normal in my view). He has a wife, two daughters and a child on the way.

      Things start getting strange when an outfitter rides his horse into Joe's yard and dies. He was shot twice in the chest and was carrying a gun and a cooler. Joe helps find out what everyone thinks happened but he isn't sure that they have the right answers. What he finds out in the end endangers his life and the lives of his family.

      Well written, great characters and a good story. I saw a review that said that the oldest daughter was one of the best depictions of a little girl written and I agree, she is smart but still a kid which is how it should be.

      I'll be reading more in this series.
    • 4/5
      An enjoyable read, which is a little slow to get going in the opening chapters as it establishes the strong and realistic characters of Joe Pickett and his family. Unfortunately most of the other characters resemble the standard genre types. The mystery elements don't really work as there are too few characters and little in the way of red herrings. Where the book does work is in taking the reader through Joe's experiences as he gets sucked deeper into the case and begins to unravel the motives behind the events he has witnessed. The pace picks up in the last third as Joe closes in on the truth and there is a satisfying finale.
    • 4/5
      3.5 starsJoe Pickett's debut - a Wyoming State Game Warden, and all-around good guy. A little "slow" on the uptake - or so everyone thinks. They think wrong. Good plotting and likable character I want to get to know better. I'll keep reading this series.
    • 5/5
      (Fiction, Mystery, Series)#1 in the Game Warden Joe Pickett series, set in Wyoming.This was a wonderful introduction to a great new-to-me series, now at #18. It featured a likeable and believable protagonist and a solid mystery. There is ‘good suspense’, but it is not overwhelming as it seems to be in so many ‘crime’ novels these days.Clearly, I have some catch-up reading to do.4½ stars
    • 3/5
      Newly installed in Saddlestring Wyoming, Wildlife Ranger Joe Pickett finds himself out of his depth when a dead body turns up in his yard and he unwittingly uncovers a trail of corruption which threatens his family. Interesting variation on a theme with Joe an unlikely hero and torn between local loyalties, doing his job and broader wildlife conservation issues. A good first novel.
    • 4/5
      The first book in a series that my Dad has been reading (I'd read the stand-alone Blue Heaven and liked it) and I am hooked!! I love the characters, I love the concept of the the Pickett family, and Joe being a Game Warden, for a variation on the norm, and there were so many twists and turns in the book I couldn't decide who did it, but the bodies kept dropping. I can't wait to start the next one.
    • 4/5
      This is the first novel in the mystery series featuring Joe Pickett, a game warden in Wyoming who stumbles into a mystery involving poachers, endangered species, Big Oil. The Wyoming setting invites comparison to Craig Johnson's [Walt Longmire], and at least in this first book Box doesn't quite deliver. Pickett is an appealing protagonist, although I found his portrayal at the outset of the story as a sort of bumbling Barney Fife of the High Plains to be drawn a little too crudely to make his intelligence and deduction skills later in the book entirely believable. Still, it's a promising start to a series that captured my interest enough to pick up the next book.
    • 4/5
      It's been a long time since I've read a whole book in one day! This one had me in its grip from page one. I like the setting--Wyoming wilderness--and the characters--a game warden and his family (though most of the rest are pretty ugly)--in this first of a long series of mysteries by this author. Although I'm not sure the complex chain of events holds together perfectly, it keeps on moving.

      A big thank you to the person who recommended these books. I'll definitely read more!
    • 4/5
      Back in 2001, CJ Box wrote the first novel featuring Joe Pickett. This is it. A great story that keeps you up wondering who/what and, most importantly - why? People are willing to kill over land - always have been - but this is particularly brutal. Land leases, government projects with big money pay days, little forest critters. These all combine in a tale of good guys gone bad.
    • 3/5
      A good thriller but the context is very American and written for a male audience- everyone has guns and there are nutters in the backwoods, not just the survivalists!
      World 2/5 US & guns
      Writing 3/5 good but not literature
      Plot 3/5 a bit slow to start and then things get more interesting
      Characters 4/5 good goodies v bad nasties!
    • 3/5
      Having read a later book in this series, I thought I'd go back to the beginning and read this first book. While I am sure it will have fans, it just didn't work for me. I should have known that a series about a game warden wouldn't appeal. There are little creatures that appear in a woodpile. Cool, but there are too many holes in the story of these little ones. It felt rather jumbled.I hated that the game warden's children lost their puppy and kitty to coyotes. You'd think a game warden wouldn't give his kid pets only to let them die. There was a good deal of environmental positing, and not always a view I support. Too much hunting, too much violence, not a strong enough story line. One rather grisly image of a kitty, and violence directed at children.I can understand why many will like this series, but having given two books in it a chance, I'm done.I listened to an Audible unabridged version of this book.
    • 5/5
      Great debut and great series! Loved this first book by C. J. Box. Can't wait to read the 2nd book in the series. Breezed right through this one! C. J. Box can tell a great story where you feel you are right there in the outdoors of Wyoming. Riveting suspense which make the pages turn fast!
    • 4/5
      Open Season is the first book in the C.J. Box’s series about Wyoming Game Warden Joe Pickett. Set in the fictional country of Twelve Sleep, Joe is the newly appointed Game Warden, replacing his mentor Vern Dunnegan in the position. Joe is a straight up family man, loving his wife, his two daughters, and his job. Unfortunately he finds himself in the middle of an investigation involving three dead outfitters, and although someone is quickly charged with the crime, Joe is far from satisfied. Digging deeper seems to be an unpopular choice both with the locals and his federal department, and the more attention Joe gives this case, the more trouble he is bringing down upon himself and his family.This is an excellent introduction to what looks to be a great series. Joe Pickett is far from a super man, but he is an admirable, honest person trying to do the right thing. The setting, although fictional is all to easy to pinpoint on a map, snuggled in against the scenic Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming. The last third of this book really keep me on the edge of my seat, and jumped this book up another notch in my appreciation. Intelligent with good-pacing and an excellent sense of place, Open Season will soon be followed by book number two.
    • 4/5
      This was a page-turning, sit on the edge of your seat, exciting mystery set in the wilderness of Wyoming. The main character, Joe Picket, is a Wyoming game warden, working in an environment that is just seething with corruption and greed. Basically, an oil company wants to build a pipeline through the Twelve Sleep Valley area and will do anything to make this happen. A well-known poacher ends up dead on his woodpile after a breakneck speed horse ride down from the mountains, bleeding from gunshot wounds. Pickett tries to unravel the mystery, but people all around him want the investigation done and over. The plot and excitement were superb, and I thoroughly enjoyed the unusual Joe Pickett, definitely an anti-hero kind of guy, especially for a Wyoming game warden. So, I will be picking up the next one in this series.
    • 4/5
      Joe Pickett is a wyoming game warden who finds himself in the middle of a murder mystery that also involves endangered animals, hunting season and eithics. The first body turns up on his door which involves him and it looks like the law isn't interested in the case, but when Joe's family are endangered it turns very interesting. It's an interesting read and you can see where Joe tries to balance sense with the rules and how people with power can abuse it. I enjoyed the read and look forward to more in this series.
    • 4/5
      I've read many crime fiction series, and the crime solvers have been police detectives, PI's, reporters, coroners,psychologists, cleaners, but never a .......game warden??? Well, it certainly worked for this first of (so far) eight Joe Pickett novels. I'm not 100% sold that I can continue to buy into a game warden protaganist for an ongoing series but the writing by C J Box is so good that I will certainly try at least the next two novels. I also like stories based in today's US west, in this case Wyoming, and while I'm no expert, the descriptions, language, behaviors feel right. Lots of tension after the initial first third of the book build up, and that first act was good enough to keep me interested. Joe is married, with kids, and the kids are done very well, and are integral to Open Season. Box has done as good a job as Michael Robotham, perhaps slightly better, in weaving the hero's family as victims into the story and through them elevating the emotional twists of the novel.
    • 5/5
      A clear and interesting voice for crime.
    • 4/5
      This was an engaging read. There were times I found myself angry at the author for the choices he made with his characters, but the way the ending worked out, those choices made sense. Box does a good job depicting Wyoming and I look forward to reading more of his novels.
    • 4/5
      I've been trying to expand my appreciation for mysteries, and CJ Box was recommended by a friend. This was very good, even if it had that awkward intro feeling that first books often have. Joe Pickett is a great everyman character with good potential for growth. This is pretty suspenseful, more so than I find Robert Parker books, but not awful--even for an anxious person like me.
    • 4/5
      This is the first book in a series. Joe Picket is a Wyoming Game Warden who seems singularly un-macho. He seems to be on the fringes of the law enforcement community in the area. He started his career there by ticketing the governor for fishing without a license and he is having trouble living that down. A body turns up in his own woodpile and his own child becomes involved so he takes this problem on with gusto. A great series beginning.