'Endangered' a suspenseful modern-day western

CHEYENNE WYOMING - The novel Endangered by Wyoming writer C.J. Box is a cleverly written book, full of suspense and as many twists as the winding roads of the mountains and plains in which the book is set.

It's another installment in Box's "Joe Pickett" series.

Normally, I shy away from such series novels. The characters often get really tired or turn into stereotypes. (The works of James Lee Burke are notable exceptions.) But this novel is a great standalone - and good enough that I am going to break my rule and look at some earlier "Joe Pickett" novels.

Endangered is that good.

This novel involves murders, abductions, an amazing family of evil miscreants that wreak havoc - and more than a few heroic actions on the part of not only Pickett, but other characters around him.

The law enforcement portrayals are realistic and gritty. And the final, climatic scenes are as good as any mystery detective novel.

Author C. J. Box

Recommended reading.

And if you live in Watkins Glen, it's on the new book bookshelf.