C. J. Box continues to excite readers with unique crime thrillers that are full of suspense and action. The twenty-third book in the series featuring Wyoming Game Warden Joe Pickett is set in late March and early April when snow storms are still bringing two or three feet of snow at a time to the town of Saddlestring and its surrounding countryside.

While Joe is hunting a wounded elk, he finds a vehicle on a remote mountainside on a large ranch. Then he finds a missing professor’s frozen and mutilated body. With a snowstorm hitting the area, Joe has to leave the body in place and notifies the local sheriff. Federal agents, local extremists, and Governor Colter Allen attempt to thwart Joe’s investigation.

Meanwhile, Joe’s friend Nate and Liv Romanowski are rebuilding their falconry company. Geronimo Jones has come to them with a business plan for expansion. Additionally, a local group of extremists approaches Nate. They want him to join them.

The characters are well defined. Readers get a good feel for Joe, his wife Marybeth, and Nate. Their characters have depth, and by this time in the series, they feel like well-known friends. Joe and Marybeth’s daughter Sheridan plays a much bigger role in this novel. The other supporting characters provide humor and conflict to enrich the reading experience. I enjoyed seeing how the characters responded to events and experienced changes in outlook.

The writing is fluid and descriptive which helps readers envision the scenes without disrupting or slowing the flow. There was a strong sense of place causing me to feel as though I was living the events alongside the characters. The dynamic plot has a tremendous amount of conflict that kept me engaged throughout. The suspense intensified as the story progressed. The final action scenes are somewhat over-the-top, but consistent with other books in the series. Themes include violence, extremism, murder, deception, assault, and much more. The author also incorporated some contemporary issues into the story line that added depth to the novel.

Overall, this was intriguing, entertaining, suspenseful, and had an action packed ending with compelling characters that kept me turning the pages as I sat on the edge of my seat. With exciting scenes and fascinating story lines that converge, this fantastic thriller felt authentic and timely. I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series. Will one of the Pickett daughters get their own series?

PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons and C. J. Box provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own. Publication date is currently set for February 28, 2023. This review was originally posted at Mystery and Suspense Magazine.

In the midst of a spring storm, game warden, Joe Pickett stumbles onto a murder scene and is suspicious when the local sheriff’s department does not take him seriously. In addition to this situation, Joe is summoned to Cheyenne to meet with the governor and is ordered to “stand down”from any further curiosity about the murder. Meanwhile, Joe’s friend, Nate is being recruited to join a group of conspiracy theorists who are (no surprise) connected to both the murder and the governor’s directive.
Well, I was pleased to read this ARC to see that this book seems like a return to the formula that Mr. Box’s fans have always enjoyed - lots of serendipitous action with Joe and Nate getting the bad guys, now with help from Joe’s family and Nate’s new friend, Geronimo. I was also pleased to find “Antifa” and related politics absent although Mr. Box did manage to get at least one dig in against Colorado and another unnecessary rant about “the President” trying to stop the purchase of guns and ammunition - sure to please his right-wing followers. I will say that I didn’t quite get the conspiracy theorists and whether the message was that they were idiots or that the leftist bad guys just planned to make them appear stupid. Anyway, this formula works for this series and I’m sure fans of Joe and Nate will anxiously await the next installment. It did seem to me that this book was hastily written but I realize that ARCs can contain mistakes. I am definitely upgrading my review with the understanding that Mr. Box has a formula that works for his devoted readers although I did not enjoy the book and after 23 installments, I have grown weary of the storyline and will say goodbye to Joe and company.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the Advanced Reader Copy.

STORM WATCH by author C. J. Box is the 23rd. book in the “Joe Pickett” series that features the tenacious Wyoming Game Warden, who again finds himself stepping into something he wishes he hadn’t, and knows that his superiors and local law enforcement will not be pleased to have him once again stepping on their toes.

Joe really didn’t want to do anything more than to be performing his duties as a warden to catch up with poachers harassing a herd of elk by running them down with snowmobiles, something he detests, but in his pursuit comes upon a man who has apparently been murdered at an unusual building that he never knew existed or what it’s purpose is.

Unfortunately after handing it off to local law enforcement and hoping they follow through on it, he quickly determines that unless he forces their hand and gets the cooperation of the owner of the property, nothing will take place, which raises the question of why there isn’t an appropriate effort made by those involved.

Once again his wife Mary Beth assists in getting the information Joe needs on the murdered foreign college professor, and once again best friend Nate Romanowski assists Joe, but this time by going undercover to infiltrate a patriotic group that might be involved, also Nate brings a friend along who fills in nicely when needed.

Can Joe again succeed without losing his life, job, and truck along the way?

I enjoyed this one quite a bit, and the uncanny coincidence of circumstances similar to a recently covered case involving a “patriotic” group in my home state that involved undercover agents made this even more realistic, and brings to question the actions that are permissible for undercover agents when infiltrating suspected terrorist groups, and what accountability there is under the circumstances.

C. J. Box is still able to keep this series interesting in spite of using a well worn formula that works by keeping up to date with current occurrences, as well as recent changes to the state covered in these novels.

5 stars.

This is another fantastic entry into the Joe Pickett series. This book grabbed my attention from the start. Each point in the story pulled me in, it's fast paced, and it's great to revisit these characters. This series makes me want to visit Wyoming. Can't wait for the next one!

I've never been to Wyoming, but I love my little escape to Saddlestring with Game Warden Joe Pickett series.

Joe tracks down an injured elk with his dog Daisy and an epic spring blizzard is about to hit. Joe doesn't have much time before he needs to get off the mountain when he comes across a dead man. It's beyond his guess what the man was doing there, got his head stuck in a metal structure with what looks like the top of his head sliced off. As Joe documents the gruesome scene, shots are fired at him from the woods.

Storm Watch is wild! I can say there was a lot going on, illegal hunting, Bitcoin, conspiracy theories, politics, and corruption. I was guessing the whole way, not sure what the first dead guy has to do with the rest of the mystery. The tension was high as Joe seems to be out investigating alone and always in places with no cell service. When will he learn to have his Sat Phone with him at all times?!

Another part I love about this series is when the story goes over falconry. I like learning about it and finding it very fascinating. This time though, defrosting a furry rodent in a microwave to feed the bird makes me squirm a bit. 😅

Joe's wife Marybeth, eldest daughter Sheridan, and Nate a master falconer help Joe with what's about to go down. Omg, I love Geronimo, can we please keep this guy?

Geronimo Jones is another falconer introduced in the previous book "Shadow Reel". He's from Denver and I'm happy he's visiting Saddlestring. He's a guy you want on your side. A funny big dude with a triple-barrel shotgun.

Love this series, until next time!

Fans of John Wayne and other cowboy characters that show true grit while thwarting bad guys will enjoy this 23rd novel featuring Joe Pickett. Rural Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett braves an emerging winter storm to hunt down and euthanize a wounded elk. What he finds is the corpse of a University of Wyoming professor stuck in a cooling fan of a pre-fabricated building. The building houses powerful computer servers to process Bitcoin transactions which seems totally suspicious. Clouding Joe’s investigation are local militants determined to overthrow Wyoming’s government. Joe is cool under fire, a sure shot with a gun, and as all good heroes do, he saves the womenfolk.

This book was written by one of my favorite authors. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Teamwork brought down the "bad" guys in this book. I loved descriptions of the mountains. Snow in the book and in real-life made this book fun to read right now. I will be suggesting this book to some of my library patrons.

Thanks to Putnam and NetGalley for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Searching for illegal elk hunters, Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett discovers an abandoned vehicle. Tracks lead him to an outbuilding where he discovers the body of a Chinese university science professor. But the imminent approach of a spring blizzard prevents him from recovering the body and obliterates any evidence of a crime. With only a few cell phone pictures of the scene, Joe is told by the governor to stand down, delete the pictures, and forget the whole thing. Just what is going on??

Loved the whole story! I hadn’t read the series for awhile, and was intrigued by the complexity of the plot and timeliness of the issues.

My first book by CJ Box, and the 23rd book in the Joe Pickett series. I saw a really good review for this one on bookstagram and I can't remember who posted it. I also saw that this can be ready as a standalone, so I had to grab it and see what it's all about. I liked it. Definitely alot going on with side stories as well as the main plot, but I was definitely never bored and read it pretty fast. So I'll definitely need to check out more in this series at some point. I'm glad I picked it up. 

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own. Comes out February 28. I'll also have my review posted on Goodreads, Instagram, Bookbub, and Amazon once it publishes.

The storm in the title is very apt, as snow storms play a big part in this story! The timing of the action all has to be calculated around how the snow storms fit in. The game warden is again the best part of this story, but the other characters all add their part. It’s always interesting to learn about other aspects of people’s lives and this time falconry is highlighted. This was a great read!

Joe Pickett is an authentically good man who takes his sworn duty seriously. This has never been shown more than in Storm Watch by C.J. Box.

Storm Watch is everything we’ve come to expect in a C.J. Box novel. With healthy doses of mystery, murder, and misdirection, Joe Pickett finds himself battling blizzards and sidestepping sniper shots. Few fictional characters go out of their way to avoid trouble more than everyone’s favorite Wyoming game warden, but like a moth to a flame, Pickett and his close knit circle of friends and family must once again take it upon themselves to set things right.


While tracking down an injured animal, Joe stumbles upon an abandoned vehicle in a place it never should have been. Still warm to the touch, he follows the trail and finds a dead body in an even stranger place. When the man turns out to be a professor at the University of Wyoming, Joe begins to ask some basic questions and finds himself running into a brick wall of resistance coming down from on high. The governor himself has ordered Joe to stand down and a pair of FBI agents do their best to convince him to stay in line. Not one to sit idle while injustice is playing out, Joe finds himself in a mountain of trouble without much effort.

Meanwhile, Nate Romanoski, and his new friend Geronimo Jones are looking to set up a crypto farming operation to fund their falconry businesses, but a group of local militia comes calling looking to recruit Nate to their cause. Distrustful of the government, for good reason, Nate is the perfect man to help take their group to the next level. The question is will he or not?

Box continues to explore the evolving demographics and problems of the Mountain West region, while also touching on larger domestic cultural and political issues. With this now the twenty-third book in the series, it’s impressive that Box is able to craft entertaining plotlines that feel simultaneously both contemporary and timeless.

One of my friends who is deep deep deep into conspiracies says "The thing about conspiracies is how often they are true." I roll my eyes.
It's been a long time since I read C.J. Box and I know nothing about his politics but with this novel (#23 in the Joe Pickett series) he is certainly playing to the choir. Yes indeedy they really are out to get us.
It's not a particularly interesting story despite the wonderful depth the author brings to the Montana landscape. The pace is a bit slow and there are a lot of awkward sentences in the ARC. The dialog is sometimes painfully bad. On top of the pervasive paranoia I didn't think the book was much fun.

While tracking a wounded elk in a snowstorm, Joe comes across a mutilated body stuck in the fan of a mysterious building. Due to the extreme weather conditions, Joe must leave the body until the next day only to find on his return that the body has disappeared. He begins to investigate what the building is used for and what happened to the body. His investigation is hampered by federal agents, political extremists, and the Governor.

It's a solid read and Joe Pickett is not your usual “hero”. Described in this book as boy scout, it is a fitting reference to the fact he is going to do the right thing despite the constant pressure to let things go. My only compliant with the book is the multiple storylines: the extremists, shed hunters, and cryptocurrency mining seemed too much.

The book stands on its own and gives you enough background on recurring characters that you can read this book out of order in the series and not be lost.

Another year, another great read from CJ Box. I've followed Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett from the beginning and never read a disappointing one in all this time.
Box's novels are designed to read at breakneck speed for maximum thrill.
In Storm Watch, early spring snow storms are the backdrop for espionage, secret conspiracies, vengeance and murder.
While tracking down a wounded elk in the wild, Pickett stumbles upon a hidden building replete with murder victim. When he returns with a very reluctant sheriff, the body and hardware inside the building are gone.
Joe brings in his wife, daughter Sheridan and falconer Nate Romanowski to help solve the many riddles hiding inside the snowdrifts.
Throw in a local insurrection group, fake FBI agents, a very corrupt governor and several more murders, and Joe is up to his nosehairs in frozen subterfuge.
Storm Watch is another chilling Wyoming whodunit from CJ Box with a hero and supporting cast that can't be beat.

I absolutely love Joe Picket books. I have read them all and enjoyed them all. This one "Storm Watch" i read in a few days. It was good. I do wish it was without politics but because of twists and turns it wasn't extremely left or right. I still enjoyed catching up on Joes life and family. Like visiting an old friend. Read this book if you have read the series.. if not start the series, you won't be sorry. I look forward to the next one.

Another awesome adventure with Joe Pickett in the wilds of Wyoming. This story involved a lot of people and Joe got extra help from Nate, Marybeth, Sheridan, Geronimo and ex-Governor Rulan. Lots of intrigue and murder and plots and insanity. The perfect novel!

I have read every one of C.J. Box's novels and loved each one of them. This one did not disappoint. There are still good people left in Joe's world.

I am thankful to NetGalley and G. P. Putnam for the early read.

Storm Watch
by C.J. Box
Pub Date: February 28, 2023
G.P. Putnam
Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.
I always look forward to the next book in the Joe Pickett series. This one does not disappoint!
Storm Watch finds Nate and Joe surrounded by peril. They solve problems in different ways and this time maybe on opposite sides,
Favorites for me in this book were: a huge snowstorm, mystery, lots of tension, good and bad buys, Joe's sweet dog Daisy and of course his wonderful daughter Sheridan!!
Don't miss this book!
5 stars

Thank you to the publisher, author and Net Galley for providing me with this advance copy of this fantastic book.

Every year, I look forward to the next chapter of the Joe Pickett saga as the story telling is always top notch. Truly it is like a favorite blanket in the comfort it provides. There was a little bit of a detour in this one as for the first time it seems an international element becomes the antagonist of the story. I liked that some modern problems have now infiltrated Wyoming. Also, the Pickett's oldest child is now part of Nate Romanowski's operation so I am expecting to see her more in upcoming stories. I wonder how the Pickett's other children will become involved.
Perhaps these portend the direction this series will move onto in the future. Regardless, as always, I truly enjoyed this book and am giving it 5-stars.

You know C.J. never dissapoints with Joe Pickett at the helm!!!
Wyoming hot shots are here and folks you can never get enough of Joe nor Nate with that sprinkle of new fallen snow upon the landscape.
Wild elk roaming around. Domestic terrorism in the backdrop.
Did I mention a Sovereign Nation and a few leaders acting as informants -playing both sides of the damn fence!
What begins with Pickett seeking a missing professor ends with a myth and some rough and tumble men going down hard with militant activist roaming the frozen rural grounds.
I've got a soft spot for this series and I hope it never ends....
Thank you to C.J. Box, Putnam, and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for this honest review.
This gem comes out in force February 28 2023.