While on patrol counting herds and listening for sounds of poachers,  Game Warden Joe Pickett notices a Forestry fence that’s been cut. Upon investigation the warden realizes this fence was cut relatively recently, and whoever did it may still be around.  Soon enough he stumbles upon a familiar face, a construction manager in town named Butch. Butch is a good fellow, trustworthy – and an obsessive hunter. Although Jim finds Butch’s behavior a little odd – he’s carrying an awful big pack for someone who is just scouting elk –   after giving Butch a warning about repairing the fence on his way back out, Joe  moves on. Later that day, though,   he learns that federal goonie boys and the sheriff all have Butch’s house surrounded: seems Butch is wanted for the death of two EPA agents.  Joe is staggered by this, but the hits will keep coming. Breaking Point  is a great thriller about men pushed to their limits,  with a fiery conclusion that sees Joe scrambling for his life through a generational wildfire. 

Imagine everything anyone hates about federal bureaucracy –  its constitutionally objectionable combination of judge, jury, and execution;  its vast morass of rules that no one knows about until they’re used to loot and ruin the public;  contempt for the public’;   the laziness and pettiness of its all-too-human officials;  and the sheer brutality it can release,  both in terms of blood and money — and distill that into a plot.  If you love hating goonie boys, then boy is this the book for you – even without the climactic ending!   A signature of the Pickett series is that something happens, the locals spot an easy answer and jump on it, and Joe annoys everyone by thinking there’s more to the story and then roaming around playing detective, getting into trouble, and somehow wrecking his truck.  This time, things are a little different, since  Joe is directly asked for help: the fed boys want to find Butch on the mountain, and they’re city-slickers with soft hands and legs that have never straddled a horse. The mountain is treacherous enough for experienced hands, but tenderfoots?  Things get worse, though:  The blustering EPA head, who turns out to be faking Hispanic identity for DIE points,   puts a bounty on Butch’s head that attracts trigger-happy vigilantes. Combined with  the fakespanic director’s..extreme means of retribution,  the mountain is a very  dangerous place to be, and Joe will be pushed to his emotional and physical extremes trying to deal with everything.

Breaking Point was a superb Pickett thriller, putting our game warden into a tight corner and allowing us to see his character – inner character – at its best.