The Joe Pickett series is written by the popular Edgar Award-winning author C.J. Box (Charles James Box). Open Season, the first book in the series was also the writer’s debut novel. It was so successful that it got several awards, including the Best First Novel award at the Macavity, Anthony, Barry, and Gumshoe Awards.
Joe Pickett is a game warden in Twelve Sleep, Wyoming, a small town of hunters. That’s why wardens like our featured hero are not overly popular, especially since Joe is a person who is easily bribed (if at all).
Joe Pickett Series in Order
- Open Season, 2001
- Savage Run, 2002
- Winterkill, 2003
- Trophy Hunt, 2004
- Dull Knife (novella #4.5), 2005
- Out of Range, 2005
- In Plain Sight, 2006
- Free Fire, 2007
- Blood Trail, 2008
- Below Zero, 2009
- Nowhere to Run, 2010
- Cold Wind, 2011
- The Master Falconer (novella #11.5), 2006
- Force of Nature, 2012
- Breaking Point, 2013
- Stone Cold, 2014
- Endangered, 2015
- Off the Grid, 2016
- Vicious Circle, 2017
- The Disappeared, 2018
The Joe Pickett series starts with Open Season, where Joe is a newly appointed game warden. The salary is small and he has to support his family from it. However, he loves his job dearly and takes it rather seriously.
At some point, Joe is fired from his warden job and goes to work for his father in law on his ranch. Eventually, though, he is back working as a warden, as the governor can’t be without him. He is the governor’s go-to man when it comes to upholding the law.
In The Disappearance, there is a new governor in power and he is not sure how to handle Joe, who used to be the previous governor’s right hand. However, he still tasks him with a new job, a delicate one at that. At the same time, Joe Picket is working a second case, and before too long, the two cases intersect in ways that Joe’s life becomes endangered, just like the life of the game he is trying to protect.
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