Great story, thrilling plot that I could not put down. Well worth a read, and would recommend to others. CJ Box is a great author.

If you feel like getting out of the urban jungle and into the countryside with your crime reading, then CJ Box should be near the very top of your to-read list. He's won the Edgar Award for his outstanding standalone Blue Heaven, but the spine of his terrific authorial oeuvre is his long-running series starring Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett.

Pickett is the inverse of many standard crime heroes, and not just because he lives and works in the wide open landscapes of Wyoming rather than hunting killers down a big city's mean streets. He's a happily married family man, who isn't particularly ambitious or driven. He's a bit of a Boy Scout, you could say, in the way he acts - always trying to 'do the right thing'. He also isn't tortured by events from his past (though as we progress through the series - Vicious Circle is the seventeenth Pickett book - there have been plenty of tough times and dark events added to Pickett's resume).

And he's not particularly capable, physically. A modern cowboy, but not an action man. Just a fairly ordinary, but honourable, guy trying to do his job and live a life he loves, as best he can. Messing up plenty along the way, but always keeping going, trying to do the right thing.

That's what makes him so special, and not at all ordinary, in the world of crime fiction.

In Vicious Circle, troubles from Pickett's past do rear their ugly head. First, there's the not-particularly-wanted return of his abrasive, condescending mother-in-law Missy. A woman who when she's not improving her bank balance, husband by rich husband, is determined to undermine Pickett and ensure her daughter Marybeth knows how much better she could have done, with anyone.

But worse than that, Dallas Cates is back in town. Former rodeo star, and former boyfriend of Pickett's middle daughter Ruby. An abusive, entitled man used to getting what he wants, and still seething about what happened to his family the last time he duelled with Joe Pickett. Revenge burns.

This is an enjoyable read in an excellent series, an instalment that's full of action, with Pickett and those he loves under extreme danger from some particularly vicious people. There's some real moments of vulnerability for the Pickett family, and Box ratchets up the tension in a way that tugs at the emotions. Long-time fans will enjoy the ongoing arcs for characters we've come to know and love, as well as the return of Nate Romanowski, Pickett's falcon-training best friend.

A best friend who more than makes up for Pickett's relative lack of talent when it comes to guns and violence, who has Boy Scout outdoors skills, but less Boy Scout in his moral code.

Engaging, and enjoyable. A very good read in a superb series.

I have read quite a few of C J Box's books and have become a firm fan. But this is my first encounter with Joe Pickett and, to be brutally honest, I found it to be a little boring; almost tedious.

Not what I have come to expect from Box. Will this put me off reading more from this author? Definitely not. I will even be tempted to read more from this series as I have enjoyed all his previous works that I have read.

Thank you to Head of Zeus via Netgalley for providing me with a digital copy of Vicious Circle for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Wow what a great read! Really enjoyed this, I loved everything about it, the characters, the story line and the twists and turns. I had a hard job putting this one down, a well deserved 5 stars.

C.J. Box has long been one of my absolute favorite authors - especially due to his books about Wyoming Game Warden Joe Pickett, whose high moral standards and dedication to his job and family get him in trouble with bureaucrats and bad characters again and again.
Unlike earlier books in the series, Pickett's friend, Nate Romanowski, and oldest daughter, Sheridan, this time play much less prominent roles in the story, and the sub-plot (this time about a poaching ring operating in the area) kind of fizzles out instead of being woven into the main plot.
As usual, Box brings all kinds of miseries down upon Pickett & co., and it looks like things will be far from dandy for Pickett in the future.
Although I still love the Pickett stories, I was not as gripped by this one as I have been by many others before it in the series, so only 4½ stars from me on this one. I guess the near absence of Nate limited the action and failed to leave me biting my nails this time around. Fans of the Pickett series, however, shouldn't miss it for the world, but it should definitely be read after "Endangered" (book 15 in the series) as it follows up on events in that story.

I love C J Box by buying books, can't get enough of them and with this being number 17 in the series it still works. You could start on this book and thoroughly enjoy it and it would make you want to read the others to fill in the back story.
As always the characters are all well written, with not too much time spent on them at the expense of the pace.
I would love to visit this part of America and see what he describes.
Only bad thing about finishing the book - the wait for the next one!

Vicious Circle, the 17th instalment in the Joe Picket series, brings back several characters from previous books. I liked this connection, and it also kept me wondering if they were all involved in the murder that’s the focus of this book. I also liked how simple the mystery seemed at the beginning, and though it never got really complicated, it still kept my interest. We didn’t see as much of Joe’s family and Nate as in some of the other books, but that didn’t really bother me. We also didn’t see much of his game warden work, one of the main reasons why I enjoy this series, apart from a poaching subplot that wasn’t really connected to anything else in the story, and seemed more of a vehicle to express certain political opinions than anything else.
I always like Box’s books, and this is no exception. However, I always feel his standalones are stronger than this series, so I’m looking forward to next year’s book.

Excellent writing as usual. I don't know how C.J Box does it Every page is worth reading. Top quality read

A great read with such excellent timing and suspense I found myself holding my breath at times. I loved the pace, the characters and the plot. I will look forward to more stories in the Joe Pickett series... he really does seem to attract drama!!