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"The past comes back to haunt game warden Joe Pickett and his family with devastating effect in the thrilling new novel from the #1 New York Times-bestselling author. 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"--… (more)
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Joe Pickett encountered the Cates family in his earlier book, Endangered, when Dallas Cates messed with Joe’s daughter April. The Cates family didn’t fare well in Endangered, and Dallas returns in The Vicious Circle to exact revenge on Joe and his family. The book opens with Pickett and two others in a small airplane searching for a missing hunter. Right after the group thinks they have found the hunter below on the ground, they witness his shocking murder, and the pace of the book never slows down. There are plenty of surprises and clever twists and turns, and the usual characters make appearances including Marybeth’s mother Missy who is always trying to create more trouble for Joe and Marybeth. There is also a small plot line about some stealthy poachers that C.J. Box wraps up very nicely. Box continues to create credible, entertaining tales that are so much fun to read, and this addition is no exception. Pickett is a highly likeable, realistic protagonist, and I have thoroughly enjoyed the progression of his own story as the books continue.
I relished coming across a couple of shout-outs that Box threw in to his story including a reference to Diana Gabaldon and her Outlander series and a reference to the Broadway show Hamilton (his daughter Lucy is singing “My Shot”) which is an obsession in my own household.
I highly recommend The Vicious Circle to anyone who likes a good mystery. Thanks to G. P. Putnam’s and Sons and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The plot of the novel starts from the first chapter and keeps going (which is different than the other two novels in this series that I've read). I didn't put it all together until the author revealed how it was done. I have no idea if there is such a thing as a tongue controlled wheelchair. I'm guessing not since if there was, I would think that famous people would have had one rather than the sip-and-puff type. I found the fact that it contained an iPhone interesting, especially since it was related to what was supposed to be a cellphone free zone.
Box has from the beginning incorporated social issues and complex moral shades of grey into his novels, which adds a richness and depth, and this novel is no exception. Also, for a male author of essentially "men's fiction", featuring a male hero, Box is downright progressive in terms of gender politics. "I need your brain on this one, Marybeth", Joe tells his wife at one point. Joe views his wife as an equal partner and in fact is rather in awe of her intellect and overall competency at times.
His female characters are not just there to be saved or as window dressing. There is one extended scene in particular that is a conversation between Marybeth and her mom that is largely unnecessary to the plot but I am so glad it was included, as it was actually quite poignant and added a lot of depth to the proceedings.
At one point Marybeth reacts to an incredibly scary and imminent threat to her family in the most calm, level-headed, quick-witted, and on-point manner imaginable, and is ironically, and to Marybeth's disgust, treated completely inaccurately as being hysterical, and told to "calm down". Could this be a sly commentary by the author on the way in which women are often still treated even today? To me, it seemed likely.
The novel mostly ties up old stories - the background is there so it can be read as a standalone but it is an unusual book in more than one way. Everyone we know and like is around and gets to play their role (except for the old governor - now out of office and the new one does not seem to be as enamored with our game warden as the old one was) but the story veers into the straight thriller territory, leaving behind much of the western vibe that the series usually has.
It is a good thriller and probably one of the better books in the series as a whole but I've grown to like the calmness in these books (often shattered by Joe doing something he just must do) and I missed it here. Still a good installment in a long running series - tying up some old threads, opening some new options and setting up the series for the future. Onto the next one.