Free Fire

By: C. J. Box

Narrated by: David Chandler

Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

Best-selling author C. J. Box—an Anthony and Macavity Award winner—earned starred reviews from both Publishers Weekly and Booklist for this exceptional mystery. Taking advantage of a legal loophole, a lawyer kills four people in Yellowstone National Park and walks away a free man. As the public outcry intensifies, the governor hires former game warden Joe Pickett to conduct a private investigation.

©2007 C. J. Box (P)2007 Recorded Books, LLC

Fast moving

CJ Box and Joe Pickett never disappoint! I Will continue reading about this exciting character!

I really liked this one

These Joe Pickett stories are great. Narration is wonderful. All the stories I like, but this one was a little bit better.

Best So Far

I'm reading these in order and to me this was the best one so far. Really great characters and story.

Very Good Book

This was a very good book I only read a fraction of the series since they get repetitive . I missed 10 or more since the last one I read and that made the difference. This one could have easily stood alone with a complete finish and it would have taken nothing from the people reading the numerous books in the series. I think the narrator is great for this type of book.

One of my favorites

I read this book years ago when it first came out, it was my favorite book then and listening to it now just re ignited the love I have for the Joe Picket series. Great listen!

Better than In Plain Sight

My first read/listen was to ‘In Plain Sight’. I struggled with it. Not giving up, I did go ahead and read/listen to ‘Free Fire’, which was MUCH better. The story moved along well. Good twist & turns. Very good character development. Looking forward yo my next Joe Pickett adventure.

Yellowstone inn

Made me want to plan a trip to Yellowstone. I’ve never been but looked up pictures of the Yellowstone Inn, and it looks just like the author described.

Box is one of the best story tellers in town!

As usual superbly plotted, Believable characters and a hard to figure out solution with a hair raising finish!! Highly Readable, if you're not careful, it will keep you up all night!!

Another great CJ Box book

What made the experience of listening to Free Fire the most enjoyable?

This entire review contains SPOILERS:

David Chandler's narration was outstanding. Because Chandler has done all the CJ Box books I've listened to, he IS Joe Pickett, et al, to me.

The story was wrapped around a bizarre legal point about venue and the requirement for local juries–there are no courts, so no venue, and since no one lives in that part of the park, so a local jury could not be found. The book made the complicated legal mess pretty simple and worked the story into the framework of the laws, or lack thereof.

The guy who believed the Yellowstone "volcano" (actually, the Yellowstone Caldera, there are six other super-volcanos hiding under caldera in the world) wasn't crazy, everything he mentioned is supported scientifically. The caldera erupts about every 600,000 years and we are overdue for an eruption.I live about 4 hours away from Yellowstone and will be one of the first to get wiped out by the eruption; most of us here think that's better than having to live with the aftermath of the eruption.

The discussion of the thermophiles and the fact they are legally mined in the park was a good center point for the plot to hinge on. It really made you hate the bad guys without revealing who they were until the end.

Overall a great book, with a great narrator. A good book to add to any CJ Box enthusiast's collection. This, and Savage Run, are Box's best books.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Free Fire?

Any of Box's books where Nate Romanoski plays a significant part are among his best. SPOILER: When Nate showed up in the 'Free Fire Zone' and shot the guy with his .454 Casull to save Joe. As an paramedic, I can tell you that the guy probably wouldn't have survived. Each .454 slug is about as big as your little finger. It would have torn the guy apart, but the 'never kill' anyone unnecessarily (Nate's definition of 'unnecessarily.') meant the guy got to live.

Nate's moral relativism is one of the things that makes the books. He sets himself up as judge, jury and high executioner. But, somehow, you have a hard time disagreeing with him. I guess there is some vigilante in all of us.

What does David Chandler bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Voice characterizations. When I "read" a "real" book, I never thought about putting voices to any of the characters. Chandler is very good at it.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When the director of the park snuck up behind the female law enforcement ranger and shot her. That came at me out of nowhere.

Any additional comments?

The Park Service guy who had ___________ (no spoiler) engraved on the back of his fake eye was pretty gross.

Buy the book, even if you're not a Joe Pickett/CJ Box fan you'll love it!

fast paced entertainment

I enjoyed the character development of Joe Pickett and the Yellow stone setting of the book.