Shots Fired

Author: C.J. Box

Over the course of eighteen books, C. J. Box has been consistently hailed for his brilliant storytelling and extraordinary skills at creating character, suspense, and a deep sense of place. All of those strengths are in the ten riveting stories—three of them never before published—that make up Shots Fired.

In “One-Car Bridge,” one of four Joe Pickett stories, Pickett goes up against a “just plain mean” landowner, with disastrous results, and in “Shots Fired,” his investigation into the radio call referred to in the title nearly ends up being the last thing he ever does. In “Pirates of Yellowstone,” two Eastern European tough guys find out what it means to be strangers in a strange land, and in “Le Sauvage Noble,” the stranger is a Lakota in Paris who enjoys playing the “noble savage” for the French women—until he meets Sophie. Then he discovers what “savage” really means.

Shots Fired is proof once again why “Box is a force to be reckoned with” (The Providence Journal-Bulletin).

Shots Fired: Stories from Joe Pickett Country


Publishers Weekly:

Bestseller Box, author of Stone Cold and 13 other Joe Pickett novels, proves in his first story collection that he's also adept at the short form. The 10 selections, which include four Joe Pickett tales, are filled with Box trademarks: drama, darkness, surprise twists, and a palpable sense of a wild, magnificent, and sometimes cruel Wyoming.

 

Booklist:

Box isn't known for short stories—he's so busy writing full-length novels that it's hard to imagine he has time to do anything else—but he has, over the years, published some, not all of them easy to find. This collection includes 10 in all, 3 of them new. The surprise for some readers may be that only 4 of these tie in to the Joe Pickett series. And, while those are a pleasure, it’s the others that are most interesting, demonstrating the author's versatility with a diverse array of ideas. "The End of Jim and Ezra," a story about two snowed-in trappers in 1835, displays both a keen eye for mundane historical detail and a wicked sense of humor. "Pirates of Yellowstone" is a quirky, surprising crime story about some unusual fish in the national park’s waters. And, if your curiosity is piqued by the title "Pronghorns of the Third Reich," read it; you'll be rewarded by a rare and surprising tale. Here's hoping we won’t have to wait long for more short stuff from Box.

 

Kirkus:

If you're looking for rising tension played out against spectacular natural scenery, nobody does it better.

 

Lansing State Journal:

Shots Fired by C.J. Box is an excellent anthology of atmospheric short stories by the author of the popular Joe Pickett series and other crime novels.

The award-winning, best-selling author doesn't disappoint his legion of fans; he showcases his talent with a sparkling collection of 10 stories mostly set in Wyoming.

Box's latest release is too good to miss; it'll serve as a great introduction to the talented writing of one of America's best crime novelists.