When I was a kid growing up
in Northeast Dallas my parents always took us camping on the winter breaks as
well as during the summers. Not only did we do a bunch of parks and sites here
in Texas we spent weeks at a time up in Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. My dad
was an avid hiker and he and I frequented many a trail. Little did I know then
that, as fate would have it, once I moved out at age twenty I would never make
it back to the mountains I had loved since a child. Author C. J. Box is one of
a handful of writers who really bring the beauty of the wilderness alive for
this reader. His latest book titled Shots Fired: Stories From Joe Pickett Country
does it again in spectacular fashion.
The short stories in this
anthology are ones that have appeared in various anthologies as well as three
brand new ones exclusive to this book. Four of the tales feature Game Warden Joe
Pickett and /or Nate Romanowski. One story is set overseas in Paris by way of
South Dakota and is a very dark tale. There is one based on a snippet of
history from before WW2 and the magnificent Hindenburg. The ten tales presented
are all good ones and readers get to them after a short introduction that
explains the background of each work.
The book opens with a Joe
Pickett story titled “One-Car Bridge.” Joe has to deliver some bad news to the
manager of the Crazy Z Bar Ranch one Saturday in September. The absentee ranch
owner, a very wealthy man by the name of Lamar Dietrich, is known for his harsh
ways and absolute refusal to accept anything less than total success by all of
his employees. He won't be happy that the Game and Fish Commission has formally
denied his plan to convert around two thousand of his sprawling ranch into an
exotic game hunting operation. Mad does not begin to cover what Joe and others
expect his reaction to be and the ranch manager and his family are in for it.
In the “Pirates Of
Yellowstone” Eddie and Vladdy have come a long way from their home in Prague to
work in the park. They were assured by Yellowstone Park representatives in
Prague that they had jobs to work for the official park concessionaire. Unfortunately,
now that they are here and very ready to work, their jobs do not exist. The
best the HR representative here can do is put them on a waiting list. They have
to make some money---one way or another.
From modern day readers
journey back in time to September 1835 where the winter snows have come early
and heavy to the mountains known as the Wind River Range in “The End Of Jim and
Ezra.” Pushed hard by newcomers and a lack of beavers in their normal trapping
grounds, Jim had made the decision to go far higher into the mountains than
normal. Higher than any white trappers had ever gone before and it worked. It
had worked so well Jim hadn’t wanted to leave. Now the snows have come and they
can't get their beavers or themselves out. Hopefully the weather will break
before they do.
Nate Romanowski is the main
focus of “The Master Falconer” though Joe Pickett does make a brief appearance.
Visitors from overseas have landed in Saddlestring, Wyoming, and they plan on
conducting some business with Nate. Not that he has any interest in ever
dealing with them again even before they use what he cares most about against
him.
“Every Day Is A Good Day On The
River” is the title of the next story as well as statement of life for many
folks. In the tale, Randall “Call Me Duke” Connor has two clients in the
flat-bottomed Mckenszie boat drifting down the river. Jack and Tim are supposed
to be on the North Platte River for a day of relaxation and fishing. Jack is a bit
nervous never having done this before, but Tim seems very quiet and in a mood. Jack
would be quite a bit more nervous if he had any idea what is coming at them.
Based on a picture from 1936
and some very interesting history “The Pronghorns Of The Third Reich” comes next. A debt from
before WWII has come due and Clint means to collect it no matter what..
Joe Pickett is back in the
nxt tale titled “Dull Knife.” Checking the license status of a group of ice
fisherman on the surface of Dull Knife Reservoir in the Big Horn Mountains
should be a fairly routine event. Even with all the noise the ice is making at twenty-two
degrees below zero. Pickett's license
check once he gets across the noisy ice leads to far more interesting things.
“Le Sauvage Noble (The Noble
Savage) comes next where those in Paris can't get enough of the idea of
American Indian's and Cowboys. So on the advice of his buddy Lyle, Jimmy Two
Bulls packs his recently purchased and allegedly authentic Indian garb and
leaves South Dakota behind for Disneyland Paris and the Wild West Show.
According to Lyle, if he plays the Indian role correctly good times will be had
with the way too sophisticated women of Paris.
“Blood Knot” comes next and
this very short story is all about family legacy and appreciation. Intense and
over quickly it can't really be described more without ruining the read.
The final story is “Shorts
Fired: A Requiem for Ander Esti.” Like the previous story, legacy and tradition
are key components of this tale. It is late September and Joe Pickett is sent
to investigate the shooting of a vehicle driven by Burton Hanks. He reported being
shot at and claims to know the identify the shooter. Burton expects Pickett to
dispense immediate justice by arresting Ander quickly and hauling him to jail,
but Pickett sticks to his usual method of trying to figure out all the facts
first.
This collection of short
stories is a good one and there is not a bad one in the bunch. Split fairly
evenly between the Pickett stories and others that feature interesting
characters and often difficult situations, Shots Fired: Stories from Joe Pickett Country
provides a lot of good reading. For those new to the Joe Pickett series of very
good books, this read explains why so many are fans including this reviewer.
Shots Fired: Stories From Joe
Pickett Country
C. J. Box
G. P. Putnam’s Sons (Penguin Group
USA)
ISBN# 978-0-399-15858-2
August 5, 2014
August 5, 2014
Hardback
288 Pages
$26.95
This reviewer was selected
to receive an ARC of the book by LibraryThing in exchange for my objective
review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2014
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2 comments:
I'm reading this one now. Some good stories here.
Had my definite favorites, but I thought they all were good ones.
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