Trophy Hunt

Joe Pickett, Book 4

By: C. J. Box

Narrated by: David Chandler

It’s an idyllic late-summer day in Saddlestring, Wyoming, and game warden Joe Pickett is fly-fishing with his two daughters when he stumbles upon the mutilated body of a moose. Whatever or whoever attacked the animal was ruthless: Half the animal’s face has been sliced away, the skin peeled back from the flesh. Shaken by the sight, Joe starts to investigate what he hopes is an isolated incident.

Days later, Joe discovers a small herd of mutilated cattle. Local authorities are quick to label the attacks the work of a grizzly bear, but Joe knows otherwise. The cuts on the moose and the cattle were too clean, too precise, to have been made by jagged teeth. Are the animals only practice for a killer about to move on to another, more challenging prey?

Soon afterward, Joe’s worst fears are confirmed. The bodies of two men are found within hours of each other, in separate locations, their wounds eerily similar to those found on the moose and cattle. There’s a vicious killer, a modern-day Jack the Ripper, on the loose in Saddlestring - and it appears his rampage is just beginning.

©2004 C. J. Box. (P)2014 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Critic reviews

"With its credible and sensitively drawn characters, loads of interesting tidbits about the natural world and timely plot, this skillfully crafted page-turner should have wide appeal." ( Publishers Weekly)

Another winner from CJ Box

Another winner from CJ Box. His easy listening style describes characters and scenarios in great detail while compelling you to turn pages. This one kept me guessing and second guessing while the main character, game warden Joe Picket, struggled to keep pace with the unlikely events unfolding around him. Narrator David Chandler is just right for these tales and I look forward to the next one.