Why you should read C.J Box's novels



Okay. If you judge a book by its cover, C.J Box would probably not be your most likely future recipient of the Nobel Prize of literature, except if he were to undergo a radical change, both in its writing and, may be more importantly, in its looks: come on, where is the dark, haunted, weary look so typical of your average New Yorker or European writer? And where are the usual overflowing bookshelves or the Parisian cafe crowd?!  Instead, with his black Stetson hat, tough guy goatee and a horse in the background, you would probably assume that C.J Box is more a roman de gare writer rather than a Pulitzer winner. And you would be right. Still, this is not a good enough reason why you shouldn’t read his novels. On the contrary: everybody needs to get a break now and then from the “great” literature, otherwise we would all end up behaving like a spoiled child at his friend’s birthday party, throwing a tantrum because he is unable to enjoy the cheap toy he received as a parting gift… Don’t act like a snob and try C.J Box’s novels out.

Here are a few good reasons why you should read him:

1-      The main character, Joe Pickett.

Considering the genre (thriller), he is more of an anti-hero: he is not divorced, he doesn’t have major marital issues, he doesn’t have a drinking problem, he is not violent nor does he uses slang or dirty words all the time; he isn’t a gun lover (of course he has a rifle and a gun but he doesn’t have a NRA bumper sticker on his pick-up truck); he doesn’t work for the LAPD or the NYPD or as a private eye; he is not even a former basketball star. Nope. He is just your average Wyoming State Park Ranger, married, with two (or three, depending on the novels) daughters, a yellow lab and a horse. He lives with his family in a rundown state-owned small ranch house in Saddlestring, Wyoming, He is a good husband (most of the time), a good father and a good friend too. And, he loves his job, even if the pay is hardly enough to make ends meet.

But he also has some of the expected features of a regular thriller hero: Joe is brave, steady, street- smart (or, in his case, trail-smart), uncompromising – which puts him at odds, from time to time, with his hierarchy and his political connections. And he has the rare ability to find himself right on the path of dangerous criminals of all kinds that chose the remote mountains of the Grand Teton Park to hide…

2-      The location.

 For a European, Wyoming  is  the paragon of Western exoticism: its name evokes wilderness, endless mountain ranges, horseback riding, wolves and grizzly bears…It is also rural America, where hunting is part of your life, where most people vote Republican, where foreigners like me would be spotted immediately…yes, so although it would probably be quite uncomfortable for me to live in a town like Saddlestring, I liked  a lot the background scenery of Box’s novels and the atmosphere resulting from the omnipresence of nature. I also have to say that, when it comes to nature, Box’s prose becomes almost poetical. He has some beautiful descriptions of the wilderness and of his hero’s’ close relationship to nature.

3-   The topics.

Box has a knack for choosing interesting and underused topics in crime novels: through his several books, he tackled green terrorism, Christian fundamentalism, anti-federalism, Wyoming politics and always without being Manichean. Good job, C.J.!
And, because the hero is a game warden, you'll also learn a lot about the hunting and fishing legislation in Wyoming! (ok, it might not be so relevant to you, but you'll still read some nice pages about nature and wild animals)

4-      Family life.

As I said above, Joe Pickett has a family and thus a family life. The way Box describes his hero’s family is both very realistic and quite humorous. For a guy, he has a very accurate perception of some women’s issues and of the children psychology.  His character has a very strong-will wife, Marybeth, who becomes, novel after novel , a very successful entrepreneur (and it gives Box the opportunity to reflect on some couple issues such as how to deal with the stereotype of the husband as the breadwinner); he has two daughters whom we follow from childhood into almost (so far) adulthood. The older one, Sheridan, is a lot like her father: brave, selflessness, serious and very aware of environmental and social issues. The younger one, so far, is the portrait crache of her maternal grandmother: selfish, superficial, spoiled. The mother-in-law, although quite cliche, is a funny character and Box knows how to use it when he needs to relieve the tension for awhile. The dialogues between the parents and their daughters are very realistic and any reader who is a parent will enjoy seeing the Picketts dealing with the joy and sorrow of raising children. I should also mention the character of the yellow lab-I know it sounds cheesy, but I do also have a yellow lab and Box's paper yellow lab will immediately win the heart of all the readers who own a lab-
Moreover, the familial and social background of the novels give you a good insight of the middle-class life today, in America. I really do think that critics tend to underestimate the importance of realism in crime novels. No need to read only Jonathan Franzen to learn about America today. Many crime novels also give you a fair reflection of the everyday life of the middle class.


5- The action.
You'll get plenty of it in these novels, although not the usual car chase: instead, expect snowshoes chases and horseback riding pursuits. And most of the action is assumed not only by Joe Pickett, but also by his Nemesis of a friend, the mysterious Nate Notalowski: he may be a former CIA agent turned mercenary and he is currently wanted by the FBI, which is why he is more or less always living clandestinely. The character itself is not that new: many crime novel heroes have a tough guy as a best friend without much principles doing the dirty work at their place. However, in this case, although not new, the character is an interesting one: Nate is a free-thinker, violent and sensible at the same time; he has freed himself from any social compromise and the Pickett family is almost his only contact with society (but he is also going to change, novel after novel). So, action scenes, especially when Nate gets involved, are very satisfying (especially when Nate crushes some stupid, ignorant and self-righteous guys...)

Not convinced yet? I can't say that, when reading one of the Joe Pickett's novel, I have been moved to the point I would cry or that I would keep reading again and again the sames pages because of the style of its writing (1); yet, if you like crime novels, you'll enjoy the Joe Pickett's series because it has both all the ingredients of the genre (a nice guy, some pretty deranged bad guys; humorous and touching secondary characters, lots of shooting and crushing skulls)  and also some not so common ones, and these kind of ingredients (the ones that play with the genre boundaries: the family life; the scenery; the topics) are the ones that make C.J Box novels fun (2) and interesting to read.
So, C.J, when are you done with the next one?


(1) I'm currently reading again La Vie devant Soi -The life before us- by Romain Gary/Ajar and yes, sometimes I'm so moved I cry...to be continued.


(2) I can't believe I used "fun"...such an American adjective... I should have said enjoyable, pleasant, entertaining, distracting...