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“A great crime novel.”
- Lee Child
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“Open Season is a muscular first novel...Box writes as straight as his characters shoot, and he has a stand-up hero to shoulder his passionate concerns about endangered lives and liberties.”
- New York Times Book Review
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“Pickett [is] an engaging change from the fast-driving, trigger-happy male heroes of so many contemporary crime novels…Open Season offers several unexpected twists and is greatly enlivened by concise but heartfelt descriptions of the Wyoming landscape…a very promising debut.”
- Washington Post Book World
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“Intriguing, with a forest setting so treacherous it makes Nevada Barr’s locales look positively comfy, with a motive for murder that is as unique as any in modern fiction. Pickett is a refreshingly human and befuddled hero…But it’s Box’s offbeat way of telling the story that puts it on the best of the year track.”
- Los Angeles Times
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“A fascinating, well-scripted debut novel...It’s a classic tale of Wild West justice.”
- USA Today
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“An appealing first novel.”
- Boston Globe
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“The unusual setting and flawed characters make for an enlightening...suspenseful read.”
- New York Daily News
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“C. J. Box might represent an endangered species himself: a first novelist who is getting his due…Box’s book has it all—suspenseful plot, magnificent scenery, and a flawed male hero who is tough but truly connected to his family…profoundly memorable.”
- Boston Herald
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“[A] debut mystery to be savored...Joe Pickett is a modern-day Gary Cooper, soft-spoken and good-hearted...Box has created an enduring hero in Joe...Once you stake out Open Season, you won’t want to turn loose until the limit is bagged and the back cover is closed.”
- Jackson Clarion-Ledger
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“C. J. Box has written a fast-paced, intelligent mystery that draws us into the wide open spaces of Wyoming and introduces a memorable hero: Game Warden Joe Pickett, unwilling detective and a man with a conscience. A page-turner and a remarkable debut.”
- Margaret Coel, author of Buffalo Bill’s Dead Now
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“[A] superb debut...Without resorting to simplistic blacks and whites, Box fuses ecological themes, vibrant descriptions of Wyoming’s wonders and peculiarities, and fully fleshed characters into a debut of riveting tensions. Meet Joe Pickett: he’s going to be a mystery star.”
- Publishers Weekly (starred review)
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“Every few years a novel appears that immediately sets itself apart from the crowd...Taking dead aim with his first sentence...Box remains square on target throughout this nearly word-perfect debut...Best of all, the soft-spoken Joe Pickett is a Gary Cooper for our time.”
- Booklist (starred review)
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“A high-country Presumed Innocent that moves like greased lightning.”
- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)