SAVAGE RUN
C. J. Box, Joe Pickett #2
In Savage Run, we go back to Wyoming where Sheriff Barnum candidly asks “Why is it, Game Warden Pickett, that we rarely if ever have any trouble in my county, but every . . . time we find dead bodies strewn about you seem to be standing there in the middle of them?” That comes in the aftermath of an exploding heifer that left a huge crater, several dead cows, and a lot of questions about the human remains found at the site.
The legend of Savage Run involves the Cheyenne Nation outwitting the Pawnees by finding an escape route through an impossible-to-escape canyon that only a few intrepid explorers had been able to duplicate. It becomes the only way out of a very sticky situation for Game Warden Joe Pickett and two companions.
C. J. Box packs a punch with this mystery, emphasizing the protection of the environment and Game Warden Joe Pickett’s fight with those who used power, money, and politics, like hobby rancher/lawyer Joe Finotta, to ravage both the wildlife and the land. As in Box’s Open Season, we see Joe Pickett on the low end of income and prestige but on the high end of doing what he believes is right.
Next: Murder on the Links, by Agatha Christie
Harriet Engle, a Staff Assistant at the Manheim Community Library, is an avid reader of several authors who write murder mystery series. Look for her weekly reviews highlighting each of these series.
Note: If you decide to start one of the series being reviewed and wish to read the next in the series, go to www.fantasticfiction.com, type in the author, and scroll down to see which book was written next under that series. The Manheim Community Library may not have the book you want, but staff will be happy to order it for you from another library.
You can also find and request the next book in the series right from the LSLC catalog. Search the book you have just read from the search bar at the top right of manheimlibrary.org. Click on the title to open up the book information and then scroll down to the section marked “Series”. At a glance, you can see the series and where the book you searched is in the series. For series of more than 14 titles, click on the button below that says “See Full Series”. To request another title from this section, just click on the cover and it will take you to the screen to request a copy from the Library System of Lancaster County to be delivered to Manheim Community Library (or another library in the LSLC.)
We come back to the United States with this review of