Book Review: “Endangered” by C.J. Box

By Kay Brennan, Hesperia Community Library Director.

Joe Pickett knows that sage grouse are being considered for the endangered species list.  If that happens, Joe will be responsible for monitoring the wellbeing of the birds in Twelve Sleep County, Wyo.

Unfortunately, he comes upon a sage grouse massacre along with scattered shotgun shells and beer cans. He knows exactly what happened but not who did it. As he is gathering evidence, he is told by the police that his daughter has been found beaten and close to death in a ditch. Joe is pretty sure her rodeo cowboy boyfriend, Dallas Cates, did it and he is ready to find him and take the law into his own hands. The police are not willing to let Joe exercise vigilante justice but do allow him to help with the investigation.

Joe’s daughter, April, may have suffered brain damage, so she has been

Kay Brennan

placed in an induced coma. The medical staff don’t know when or if she will be able to talk to anyone about her injuries. The Cates family is well known for game violations; dislike of law enforcement of any kind; and refusing to cooperate. Joe and the police would like to solve this case as soon as possible

but they aren’t getting much help.

Joe Pickett is a character in a series of books by Box, all set in the West. The descriptions of the wildlife and country are great, and the mystery is complex and fast-moving. Any book in this series is interesting and fun.