Open Season

A Joe Pickett Novel

By: C. J. Box

Narrated by: David Chandler

Joe Pickett is the new game warden in Twelve Sleep, Wyoming, a town where nearly everyone hunts and the game warden—especially one like Joe who won't take bribes or look the other way—is far from popular. When he finds a local hunting outfitter dead, splayed out on the woodpile behind his state-owned home, he takes it personally. There had to be a reason that the outfitter, with whom he's had run-ins before, chose his backyard, his woodpile to die in. Even after the "outfitter murders," as they have been dubbed by the local press after the discovery of the two more bodies, are solved, Joe continues to investigate, uneasy with the easy explanation offered by the local police.

As Joe digs deeper into the murders, he soon discovers that the outfitter brought more than death to his backdoor: he brought Joe an endangered species, thought to be extinct, which is now living in his woodpile. But if word of the existence of this endangered species gets out, it will destroy any chance of InterWest, a multi-national natural gas company, building an oil pipeline that would bring the company billions of dollars across Wyoming, through the mountains and forests of Twelve Sleep. The closer Joe comes to the truth behind the outfitter murders, the endangered species and InterWest, the closer he comes to losing everything he holds dear.

©2001 C.J. Box (P)2010 Recorded Books, LLC

disappointing, with a dash of annoying

What did you like best about Open Season? What did you like least?

I liked the premise, the location, the game warden character. The author created and played him (Joe Pickett) as a not very smart guy, who made some big mistakes. The secondary characters were a bit deeper, though his wife came off as a bitchy whiner.

The 7yo girl was the smartest of the bunch, though in my opinion she had much too much screen time. I didn't want a mystery where one of the main detectives ended up being a 7yo.

What could C. J. Box have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Make Joe Pickett develop a spine. It took a tad too long for that to happen.

Explain how the state of Wyoming hires a game warden who can't shoot a pistol and is more dangerous with it than without it.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

David Chandler made very little effort to act out the book, with virtually no regional accent, no differentiation between characters. All the women sounded alike (bitchy & arrogant). His insistence on exaggerated annunciation seemed like an affectation, and it was at first distracting from the plot line, them ultimately annoying.

Did Open Season inspire you to do anything?

I did finish it, because i wanted to see whodunit. I had a good idea early on, not that I'm that great at figuring it out, but because it wasn't that hard.

Any additional comments?

I wanted to enjoy it more, wished I had. The last quarter of the book got better, though it has some awful twists I did not enjoy.

Joe Pickett /WY Game Warden / He isn't Longmire

The first in a series about WY Game Warden Joe Pickett and his problems....The story is awkwardly written but fairly interesting, however David Chandler is not a particularly sterling narrator. His phrasing is awkward and toneless, his womens voices poorly done and he presents Pickett as a total wimp. Which is pretty much the way Pickett is written BTW.

I purchased 3 of C.J. Box's audio books in the series but doubt I'll buy more unless the character is better developed and Chandler improves as a narrator.

I'm not nearly as enthused about this series as I was about Walt Longmire, thats for sure. If you're interested in reading about Wyoming wilderness and enjoy mysteries then THATS the series to spend your credits on.

Good guys sometimes win

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this book to a friend who like mysteries set in remote places and is comfortable with rural lifestyles......or longs for such.

What other book might you compare Open Season to and why?

I like Craig Johnson's Walt Longmire series and William Kent Krueger. I've lived in these remote areas and miss them.

great start to the series.

to many hero of a action store are heartless, Joe Pickett is just a normal man with a brain in his head and values we all could live by.

Great Story!

Really enjoyed the book. Written and read in such a way that I could see it in my mind's eye as the story progressed. Easy to listen to. exciting with unpredictable twists.

Weasel

The first novel of a series featuring Joe Pickett, a Wyoming game warden who get involved in a mystery with poachers, endangered species, big oil and some really nefarious characters. The setting is cool; Wyoming wilderness, family man, mystery. A tale of good guys gone bad. I especially liked the 4 year old girl, who acted like one.Think I'll have another book, thank you.

Excellent start to the series

I recently listened to Cold Wind and really enjoyed it. Great story and great characters. So I went to the first in the series - Open Season. Another great listen. Aside from the great book, they picked the perfect narrator. On to the next ...

Tight, Intriguing and Right On with a major flaw

I'm on Book 12 now, still going strong, and still loving it: topics, writing style, narration and all. I wanted to know more about Joe's childhood, and that happened in the next novel. Ditto for Nate.

The writing is engaging and thorough, with scenes about falconry, stalking, hunting, firearms, processing, etc. but the story is also staged in the real world of politics, crime and intrigue.

As a southerner since the 1960's, though, I find the southerners in the series shallow and archetypal, a la "Deliverance". Many of the deceitful, ignorant characters are Southern and the narrator compounds the issue by giving them similar voices: catatonic, moronic and droning. I'd love a soft Georgia coastal accent, an upbeat/educated Texan accent, or ANY of the dozens of pleasant Southern dialects for a change.

Slow start but becomes quite interesting about half way through

Almost let it drop a couple hours into it, then it started to pick up

Interesting read

Story was ok

I wanted to not finish it but the story picked up half way through so I continued listening.