Terror in the deep woods! A hunter has been deliberately killed, then field-dressed like a deer. The gruesome sight makes Wyoming law enforcement realize that two prior ‘accidents’ may be connected, and Joe Pickett, Game Warden at Large, is asked by the governor to join the investigation, offering his knowledge of the land to the feds who are coming. Joe’s enemy, his boss, is fixated on the case, so much so that he welcomes Joe’s skills even if he despises Joe himself. During the early part of the investigation, though, several members of the party tracking and searching for evidence are killed, resulting in all hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreation being suspended in Wyoming. Considering that licenses and taxes from outdoors-oriented tourists are what pays the bills in Wyoming, panic and confusion erupt. The result is yet another excellent thriller from CJ Box, one that uses the killer’s point of view to build suspense and add to the drama.

At one point in this book, Joe visits his old mentor, the disgraced Vern, who looks at him and tells Joe that he’s changed: he’s gotten hard. Joe is definitely changing as a character, and well he should given how many years have gone by since the series began, and by what he’s endured. Joe is still morally square and stubborn about getting to the truth, but he’s seen so much violence and corruption — and has himself taken life — that his soul is getting grey-haired even if his skull isn’t, and his temper is more feisty, something we see several times here in his altercations with his boss. Of course, it’s unlocked by the sheer amount of stress he is under at the moment, what with being actively hunted by an anonymous madman, at the cost of a friend. Although the setup appears to be some eco-terrorist raging against hunters, it wouldn’t be a Pickett book without there being more to the store, and I liked the way Box misdirected readers through multiple angles.

I don’t usually post weekend reviews, but I’ve already read the sequel to this, so…move `em on, head `em up, cut `em out, Pick-ett! Hah!