Thanks to my sister and brother-in-law, I found quite a car dealership for regular maintenance of my CRV. My sister and I went yesterday before running other errands. Free popcorn. Fresh-baked cookies. Free beverages in all the machines. And, even the customers were friendly. So, I was running errands instead of reading yesterday, and I’m using one of Kevin Tipple’s latest reviews. C.J. Box’s latest Joe Pickett novel, Three-Inch Teeth, has only been out since Feb. 27, so this week’s review is current. Thank you, Kevin!
It is a beautiful Wyoming mid-October day as Three-Inch Teeth: A Joe Pickett Novel
by C.J. Box by begins. It had been beautiful, until it was marred by tragedy. Clay
Hutmacher JR., who had planned to ask Sheridan Pickett to marry him that night, was
violently killed by a grizzly bear. It came after him in the river he was fishing in and
attacked him without provocation. Not only was the attack savage, there are not
supposed to be grizzly bears in this part of Wyoming. It will take 24 hours before his dad
finds what is left of his body in the waters and bank of the Twelve Sleep River as it cuts
through the Double Diamond Ranch.
In response to a devastated phone call from the dad, Wyoming Game Warden Joe
Pickett comes to Clay Hutmacher out at the ranch and sees the same horrible scene.
No father should ever have found his son the way he did. It is also clear to Joe that a
grizzly is responsible. Even though there are not supposed to be any grizzlies in the
Bighorn Mountains of North Central Wyoming.
Joe Pickett starts calling in folks and activating resources. That includes “The Predator
Attack Team.” Even though Joe is an auxiliary member, he is onsite, so he will be fully
involved. This is a designated team of game wardens that have specialized training to
deal with large carnivore attacks. Their mission will be to hunt down the bear and kill it.
First it has to be found. That proves to me far harder than it would be in a normal
situation.
What follows is a complicated and fast-moving tale as a succession of what seems to
be random bear attacks occur locally as well as across the region. Is it really a grizzly
bear? Or, is it something else and far worse? Could it be both?
That is up to readers to discover in Three-Inch Teeth: A Joe Pickett Novel by C. J.
Box. Not only is the latest installment of the series a good one, politics are minimized in
this read. Unlike the last novel, Storm Watch, the read here returns to the roots that
made this series so good from the first book. The focus in Three-Inch Teeth: A Joe
Pickett Novel is on apex predators and staying alive in a read that only partially ties
everything up. It is a good one and well worth your time.
My reading copy came from the publisher, G.P. Putnam’s Sons (Penguin Putnam
Group), through NetGalley with no expectation of a review.
Kevin R. Tipple © 2024
Sorry the spacing went whacky, folks. Pretty sure it is my fault this keeps happening.
Don’t worry about it, Kevin. It’s not as bad as when I do book jackets all over the place. Thank you, again!
I was going to skip this one (they’ve gotten too violent for me) but you make me want to read it, Kevin!
There is violence in this one and pretty much at the usual level.
But, there is far less p[political commentary, and I appreciated that fact.
Having a place in Wyoming, I have read all of C.J. Box’s books. I am not a fast reader but I finished it in 2 days!! It is more like his earlier books and was all over the place. What a ride, all kinds of different emotions experienced and it took awhile to realize what was really happening. It is not for the faint of heart but and it took a while after finishing it, but it was a great read and left one knowing the next one can’t come soon enough!