New York Times #1 Bestselling Author and Wyoming native C.J. Box is making a stop in Casper for a book signing of his latest Joe Pickett novel on Thursday, March 21st.

"Wolf Pack" is the 19th crime novel featuring Wyoming Game Warden Joe Pickett, who when we last left him, had been suspended from his job and was in hot water.  As "Wolf Pack" opens things are looking up, at least at the start. "New house, new truck, a little bit of a raise," said Box, "but of course anyone who's read the series knows that if things are looking this rosy, things are going to take a turn the other way, and they do."

In this latest novel, Joe examines the clash between nature and twenty-first century technology in the American West, according to a release from Putnam:

"In WOLF PACK, Joe Pickett tries to lay down the rules for a drone operator killing wildlife by chasing them to their deaths with his drones. He is asked by the FBI and the DOJ to stand down, which only makes him more suspicious. He’s also come to learn the drone belongs to a mysterious and wealthy man whose son is dating Joe’s own daughter, Lucy. Meanwhile, bodies are piling up in and around Joe’s district in shocking numbers. He begins to fear that a pack of four vicious killers working on behalf of the Sinaloa cartel known as the Wolf Pack has arrived. Their target seems to be the mystery man and everyone–including Joe, Nate, and others–who is associated with him. Teaming up with a female game warden (based on a real person, one of the few female game wardens at work in Wyoming today) to investigate the drone situation and confront these assassins, Joe finds himself in the most violent and dangerous predicament he’s ever faced."

Pickett lives and works in fictional Saddlestring, Wyoming, which Box said is based on a combination of Buffalo, Sheridan, and Saratoga. Part of Joe's audience appeal, Box says, it that Joe is not a private eye or a detective with a checkered past. He actually has a lot in common with the rest of us.

"He works hard, he tries to do his best, he screws up, he has a lot of problems that we all do, and I hear from a lot of readers that's why they like the character and they like the series," said Box, who works to write authentically about Wyoming and it's people.

"I try not to overdo the ruralness, I try not to make every character a Western stereotype or caricature, and try to keep that accurate," said Box. "People aren't rubes, they aren't hillbillies, I try to have a pretty accurate portrayal of Wyoming and I think I do, but I also spend a lot of time on the landscape and the weather which defines Wyoming."

C.J. Box Book Signing for "Wolf Pack":

  • Thursday, March 21st at 6:00 p.m.
  • Wind City Books at Frontier Brewing Company and Taproom, Casper
Courtesy Katie Grinch, G.P. Putnam's Sons
Courtesy Katie Grinch, G.P. Putnam's Sons
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