Stone Cold

Author: C.J. Box

Everything about the man is a mystery: the massive ranch in the remote Black Hills of Wyoming that nobody ever visits, the women who live with him, the secret philanthropies, the private airstrip, the sudden disappearances. And especially the persistent rumors that the man’s wealth comes from killing people.

Joe Pickett, still officially a game warden but now mostly a troubleshooter for the governor, is assigned to find out what the truth is, but he discovers a lot more than he'd bargained for. There are two other men living up at that ranch. One is a stone-cold killer who takes an instant dislike to Joe. The other is new—but Joe knows him all too well. The first man doesn't frighten Joe. The second is another story entirely.

Stone Cold (Joe Pickett, #14)

Library Journal:

With each book, Box just gets better. Nonstop action, a twisty plot, and great characters make his latest a must-read for fans of this series.

 

Publishers Weekly:

Bestseller Box's exhilarating 14th Joe Pickett novel. Unlike your standard-issue action hero, the canny Joe uses his wits, taking time to assess the literal and figurative lay of the land. Box does a good job of working in the backstories of characters and situations, so even new readers should have no problem following along.

 

Booklist:

This marks a welcome return to the thing Box does best: putting family man Joe in a dicey situation where, despite his orders to merely observe, his own moral code means he can't help but light the fuse and see where it leads. 

 

The Denver Post:

Stone Cold features carefully crafted characters who live in the wilds of Wyoming, a setting that Box uses to great effect. 

Box creates a story with an unique premise and takes readers along for a suspenseful, action-filled ride. Not everybody makes it home.

 

Associated Press:

There are precious bits scattered in the story like so many nuggets of Black Hills gold.

 

Cleveland Plain Dealer:

In yet another superlative outing, Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett deals with an entire corrupt county when he’s sent on a special mission by the governor. Box gets everything right: believably real characters, a vivid setting, clear prose and ratcheting tension. Maintaining these standards over 14 novels is more than impressive. Grade: A

 

Military Press:

Stone Cold has non-stop action with captivating characters. The plots are thought provoking, suspenseful, and compelling. These western tale books are a welcome difference from other crime novels and should be on any readers' list that wants a thrilling mystery.

 

Arizona Republic:

As with every book in the Pickett series, Box weaves vivid descriptions of Wyoming's landscape and the personal drama of Pickett's family into a blistering page-turner.

 

St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

[We] can thank author Box for another dandy tale — with an even dandier surprise ending.

 

Bookmunch:

C.J. Box's Stone Cold, his fourteenth novel in the Joe Pickett series, is a series high.

If you're a fan, all you need to know is that this is another great C.J. Box novel. If you're a fan of intelligent crime, as we've said before, then we can't recommend Box enough. His books tend to come laden with quotes from the kinds of writers you'd probably never read (Lee Childs etc) but that comes in part, I think, because the Lee Childs of this world would give anything to write as well as Box.