Vicious Circle

By: C. J. Box

Narrated by: David Chandler

Length: 10 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's Summary

The plane circled in the dark. Joe Pickett could just make out down below a figure in the snow and timber, and then three other figures closing in. There was nothing he could do about it. And Joe knew that he might be their next target.

The Cates family had always been a bad lot. Game warden Joe Pickett had been able to strike a fierce blow against them when the life of his daughter April had been endangered, but he'd always wondered if there'd be a day of reckoning. He's not wondering any longer. Joe knows they're coming after him and his family now. He has his friend Nate by his side, but will that be enough this time? All he can do is prepare...and wait for them to make the first move.

©2017 C. J. Box (P)2017 Recorded Books

Joe Pickett returns! Terrific mystery!

If you're new to the Joe Pickett series, you're in for a treat, but don't start here. The 17 books (plus a novella and short story) are best read in order since the characters age and evolve. Not that it is necessary to read every one; nevertheless, all but a few are 4- or 5-stars. Even though it seems clear from the outset who the villain is, Joe follows his instincts in search of motive and opportunity. As usual, he is assisted by his stalwart wife Marybeth, an attorney and librarian, as well as by his strange friend Nate Romanowski toward the end. (Calling Joe "Dudley Do-right", Nate has his own moral code and serves as a counterpoint to Joe.) If you don't like police procedurals, you may find this story a bit slow and disappointing, but there is more to a mystery than whodunit. Following "Off the Grid," which, unlike most fans, I found to be a huge misstep for Box (and can be skipped,) I was pleased to see him return to form. There are some minor technical errors concerning the functioning of an iPhone, but, unless you are an engineer, you probably won't even notice. Anyway, this is fiction after all.
As always, David Chandler is a superb reader.
I look forward to the next in the series.

Not the best book in the series!

I have listened to this entire series. From the first book I was disappointed with the reader but I got used to him and learned to look past his rather mono tone reading. I found this book a real disappointment because the author got so many things wrong. It seems that an author should be able to check his own story line in any sequel he writes. For instance, he wrote in this book that Brenda was found on top of of her husband in the well. That was wrong because Brenda fell into the well when Livia pulled her in. Then Livia hit Elmer in the head and he fell on top of Brenda. There were a lot of these little mistakes through out the book. Bud was not the husband Missy killed and chained to the windmill. Was Box testing our memory or his own?

great series

I have enjoyed every book in this series you will too. Give them a try you won't want to stop listening till you've finished.

Thank you C.J. Box, AWESOME JP book!

Any additional comments?

I've enjoyed the entire Joe Pickett series, each book is captivating, intriguing and this one doesn't disappoint. Good suspense in this book, narrator does a splendid job with all the characters. You don't need to start at the first of the series to enjoy these books, but it helps. You will get drawn into the splendid characters of each book in the series.

Another great Joe Pickett novel .

There is a problem with the background story. It was Earl Alden not Bud Longbreak that was tied to the wind turbine. Other than that it was another great Joe Pickett novel.

Skip this C.J. Box

Would you try another book from C. J. Box and/or David Chandler?

I've enjoyed so many of C.J. Box's Joe Pickett novels. This one seemed like he just got out some old plot elements, reinvigorated characters he knows his listeners enjoy, and spread them around a bit in a "new" novel. If you are new to Box, skip this one and start at the beginning. Wondering whether to add this to your collection? Not recommended.

Interesting, but...

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

There was no "mystery," there was no 'whodunnit,' a crime was committed and they immediately decided it was the antagonist. Then spent the rest of the book "proving it." With no mystery it was, essentially, a TV police procedural with crooked cops and barely motivated 'bad guys.' It was an interesting procedural-although Box does not write regular cop very well-with some twists with a lot of fantastic events and out of character behavior from long established characters. (Nate goes from being a mountain man to harried businessman? Prison staff misses an iPhone for 2 years?) Many of the supporting characters were completely vacuous, without any visible motive for their actions, some were completely unnecessary. Long unnecessary descriptions were given for unrelated things, seemingly just to take up space. New characters acted completely contrary to their descriptions. It was like Box rounded up all his recurring supporting cast and gave them a part. It was almost as if the story was made up as it went along. Very disappointing.

Would you be willing to try another book from C. J. Box? Why or why not?

I've read all of the Joe Pickett books and I'll probably read the next one–if there is a next one. This book and "Off the Grid" show clearly that Box either has run out of original ideas, or isn't interested in writing about them, for the series. It was like he put this book out only because he needed to get another book out.

What about David Chandler’s performance did you like?

Chandler's performance was great as usual. Voice characterizations were great.

Was Vicious Circle worth the listening time?

Yes, but just barely.

Any additional comments?

I had hoped that, as he aged his characters, Box would bring Sheridan into the story. Maybe she would become a warden? Sheridan would make a good replacement. Box made a mistake in aging his characters the way he did. He wrote himself out of a series. Pickett won't be a viable character for very long because of age. Nate Romanowski is already showing signs of aging; the character must be in, or near, at his 60's. In a lot of ways, this book sort of seemed to be bringing these characters to an end.SPOILER:In this book, Box depicted Joe and Dulce knowingly driving drunk and justified it. This was completely out of character for both of them and very disturbing. There is no justification for driving drunk.

A BORING DUD

Little to no real action. Nothing new or creative. All talk, talk, talk rehashing an old story and old characters. This was written as if simply to fulfill a contract to turn out another book. Save your time and money and take a pass.

Not enough Joe Picket action

I found this book to be much less action packed than other Joe Picket adventures.... There's not a lot of Nate Romanowski action either. Basically, it's Joe and his wife working together to crack another case.

Not one of Box's better books

This was essentially a follow on story from an earlier novel. As such, it didn't really offer much of interest and was not very engaging. To compound matters, the narrator was awful. He reads like someone not proficient with reading. By that, I mean he pronounces every syllable distinctly rather than allowing the words to flow as they would in normal conversation. This makes for an uncomfortable listen. Had this been some other writer, I probably would have quit without finishing.