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Back of Beyond C J Box Books

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Back of Beyond C J Box Books

An author I enjoyed for many years is James Lee Burke but at some point I got tired of dealing with his character Dave Robicheaux, a lawman, recovering alcoholic and prone to and victim of extreme violence at the hand of deranged villains. The one thing I thoroughly enjoyed about his writing was his ability to produce a sense of place, usually the Louisiana Bayou.

So, what does this have to do with this novel by C.J. Box? With a long trip ahead I picked this up on audiobook. It is the first in the Cody Hoyt novels. And who is Cody Hoyt? Why a recovering alcoholic lawman inclined to extreme violence. So, unfair as it is to the author, my current distaste for the damaged violent lawman colored my thoughts of this book.

I was not impressed by the extreme "coincidence" of many of the events that transpired, but must admit Yellowstone is certainly a place to put your subjects if you want to surround them with more kinds of danger than one normally contemplates. Oh, yeah. Like Burke he produces a great sense of place. Have been to Yellowstone and felt like I had returned!


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Back of Beyond C J Box Books Reviews

Box writes entertaining who-dun-nits, with nice descriptions of the scenic beauty of the rural rocky mountain west. Good for chilling out on an evening or lazy weekend. Many of his characters are tropes of the western US. The thing I don't like about Box's books is that he seems to be an apologist (or shill) for the west's Dick Cheneys and other "rugged anti-big government individualists" (ranchers, miners, oilmen, land developers, outfitters)--all of whom have been sucking at the government's tits since the 19th century. These people, and Box (whose main characters are inevitably government employees - cops, rangers), are among America's biggest hypocrites.
Cody Hoyt is a lapsed alcoholic, divorced, and a police detective who just doesn't seem to care about much any more. At least until his son goes on a wilderness trip with his soon-to-be step-father. During a murder investigation, Hoyt discovers links to other murders, and somehow figures out that the murderer may be on the same wilderness trip as his son. Despite having zero experience in the wild, he convinces a retired tour guide to help him find his son and maybe catch a killer.

I love Box's Joe Picket series and picked this up expecting something different yet similar. It isn't. Cody Hoyt is just not a likeable character (which is generally OK), and it's difficult to invest yourself in him. The situations seem contrived or convenient throughout the book. I did finish the book, but the last half was a struggle, and I finished it only because I thought Box would somehow bring the story together better than he did.

Not recommended, but I'm looking forward to the next Pickett novel.
I really like CJ Box's books, and I've bought and read all the Joe Pickett books and most of the others he's written. This is not one of the better ones. In fact, I'd rank it last of all his books that I've read. Why? Because even though the characters are good and the story moves along well, with great settings, it's too hard to suspend my disbelief at all the gaping plot holes.

The plot is just too elaborate ever to make sense. For example <spoiler warning>, picture an experienced back country outfitter who learns of hidden treasure in the mountains. Is he going to (A) go after it alone, with mules as pack animals to haul back the loot, or (B) go after it with a dozen tourists and no means of carrying back all that heavy money? (A), you say? Me too. No one with half a brain would pick (B). This guy would have canceled his trip and made up a story about scouting a new route, and used that pretext to grab the cash. (B) makes no sense at all.

And then <another spoiler warning>, think about a woman who is going after said loot. Is she going to (A) hire an individual outfitter to take her up there alone to grab it, or (B) adopt a false identity, befriend some guy and (later) his two teenage girls and join up with a bunch of tourists, with no extra cargo capacity, to get the money? Yeah, I'm gonna have to go with (A).

Those are only the most significant plot holes, but there are more. Including <third spoiler warning> the idea that it makes sense to (A) go around killing a bunch of recovering alcoholics around the country to "protect" the loot, and thereby raise all kinds of suspicions, rather than (B) simply going after the loot immediately so there's no chance they can get there first.

And then <fourth and fifth spoiler warnings> there's Gracie, who at one point starts wondering inexplicably about some hidden maps that she's never seen and is never told about. And how about the idea of simply murdering pretty much everyone who even might raise an alarm, such that the survivors must either die too and have their deaths somehow covered up, or they will in turn raise the alarm? Which brings me back to the idiocy of trying to recover treasure as part of a tourist expedition.

Or how about a character named Donna, who gets called "Jennifer" for no reason about a third of the way into the book?

And then there's the part where Hoyt wears a wire to elicit a confession, but the perp doesn't admit one single thing, and then the authorities arrest him anyway, even though nothing's changed.

Don't get me wrong. I do really like Mr. Box's work. This book is definitely a deviation from his normal standard. But one more quibbling note, which I see in every one of his books It's ungrammatical to say, e.g., "Bill wished that he WOULD HAVE closed the door." It's correct to say "Bill wished that he HAD closed the door." Sorry, but that's been bugging me.
An author I enjoyed for many years is James Lee Burke but at some point I got tired of dealing with his character Dave Robicheaux, a lawman, recovering alcoholic and prone to and victim of extreme violence at the hand of deranged villains. The one thing I thoroughly enjoyed about his writing was his ability to produce a sense of place, usually the Louisiana Bayou.

So, what does this have to do with this novel by C.J. Box? With a long trip ahead I picked this up on audiobook. It is the first in the Cody Hoyt novels. And who is Cody Hoyt? Why a recovering alcoholic lawman inclined to extreme violence. So, unfair as it is to the author, my current distaste for the damaged violent lawman colored my thoughts of this book.

I was not impressed by the extreme "coincidence" of many of the events that transpired, but must admit Yellowstone is certainly a place to put your subjects if you want to surround them with more kinds of danger than one normally contemplates. Oh, yeah. Like Burke he produces a great sense of place. Have been to Yellowstone and felt like I had returned!