Vicious Circle by C.J. Box is #17 in the series. I adored this story and appreciated the nuisances in those revenge-goal novel. This storyline related to an earlier book and reads faster and better with that background. Armed with that history, this story ties together in a tightly woven plot. I never tire of reading the father-daughter Joe-April Pickett team.

First time reading this character and I must say turned out alright. The book opened up with Joe Pickett, who is a Wyoming game warden witnessing a crime. The problem is he is seeing it from a small plane. From there the author will take you on a journey from his eyes in looking for not only the people who are committing the crime, but who the victim is as well. You will also get a little bit of look from the victims side as well. A mystery suspense that does not have a lot of blood and guts as some books do. I found this book to be a different but good read.

C.J. Box brings back the ne'er-do-well Cates family in this latest Joe Pickett thriller. Dale Cates has just gotten out of prison and has revenge on his mind, not only against Joe, but also against his whole family since he thinks Joe has destroyed the whole Cates family. As the plot unfolds, it becomes increasingly sinister, and we fear for Joe's wife and daughter as well as him, but it seems for a while as if they can never escape the threat hanging over them. The resolution is satisfying for this page-turner.

C.J. Box just keeps getting better and better! His latest delivers the surprises and twists and turns that we have come to expect, and this is family is squarely at the center of the novel. Don't start reading this one unless you have the time to finish it, because you will not want to put it down.

Vicious Circle is the 17th novel in the bestselling Joe Pickett series. Pickett is a Wyoming game warden, and in this novel, while in a small plane, sees on an iPad screen what looks like three men taking another man down. Joe becomes involved in the investigation, first of a missing person, and then what turns out to be the murder of one of his acquaintances. Previously, Joe had run ins with the Cate family, whose members are notorious for evil ties with powerful, corrupt people, and was instrumental in getting some of them into prison. He suspects that they are involved, and knows that the Cates are out for revenge against him. He knows that he and his family are in danger. Pickett must not only find out what happened - why and how the murder took place - as well as protect his family.

The Joe Pickett series is well-written, the characters are well-developed, and the story is good enough to keep readers on the edge of their seats. Pickett is likeable, and is an upstanding member of law enforcement. He is a happily married family man and is very protective of them. Even though there are some very bad guys in the area where Joe works, the book doesn’t have a lot of graphic violence, which is refreshing since the readers will know what happened, but are spared an over-abundance of gruesome details.

Vicious Circle and other books in this excellent series will appeal to readers who enjoy the outdoors. Joe is a man’s man – not one who wears a suit and works in an office. Unlike heroes in most of the other modern series, he isn’t a womanizer, doesn’t use a lot of foul language, and is generally a likeable and believable guy.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

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.

In "Vicious Circle," C.J. Box's master storytelling allows the reader to smell the cold, fresh scent of Wyoming's pine tree forests, and see the hard whiteness of the stars and moon over the dark blue of the Teton Mountains.

Picking up from the 16th novel, Box weaves a tight multilayered plot involving a few very bad and very corrupt characters. Dallas Cates, the rodeo star who abandoned Pickett's daughter by the side of the road, is out of prison. Together with two ex-cons, he intends to avenge himself and his family by killing Pickett and his whole family. As Pickett desperately tries to keep his family safe, he is confronted with seemingly honest individuals conspiring to destroy his reputation, and the riddle as to where Cates is getting the money to buy them off. "Vicious Circle" is a page turner that I literally could not put down.

Fabulous book that keeps you turning the pages. If you like suspenseful stories, I would highly recommend this novel.

Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons on March 21, 2017

Vicious Circle is the latest entry in a series that has grown tired. Readers who want to read what is essentially the same story over and over will enjoy it. Readers who hope to find something fresh in a stale series will probably be disappointed.

Dave Farkus calls Joe Pickett and leaves a message to tell him he overheard a conversation that Dallas Cates was having about Joe’s family. He doesn’t reveal the contents of the conversation and he disappears on a hunting trip before Joe can talk to him. Joe takes a break from hunting for a poaching ring to hunt for Farkus. It turns out that other people are also hunting for Farkus. They find him first.

Joe is worried because Dallas Cates had an unpleasant relationship with his daughter Alice. C.J. Box tells us that Dallas served two-to-four years in a penitentiary for a misdemeanor hunting violation, which isn’t possible, but this isn’t the first time Box has been mistaken about Wyoming law. Later, Joe is pleased that he obtained a “clean” statement from a woman in custody because she “didn’t ask for a lawyer,” but seems to be unaware that her statement can’t be used against her because he didn’t give her a Miranda warning. For a law enforcement officer, Joe knows shockingly little about the law.

Marcus Hand (clearly modeled after Wyoming lawyer Gerry Spence) returns in Vicious Circle, having married Joe’s mother-in-law, who also returns. Nate Romanowski is back, conveniently stumbling across the dead body of a woman who is tied into the Dallas Cates story. Nate ruminates about how he misses killing people who (in Nate’s judgment, as opposed to that of, for instance, a jury) deserve to be killed. He almost kills someone based on a three-second snatch of a conversation he overhears, which suggests that Nate’s judgment is questionable at best. Box occasionally assures the reader that Romanowski isn’t a “cold-blooded killer” but that’s exactly what he is.

Why Joe is so fond of this vigilante, who stands for all the lawlessness that Joe supposedly hates, is beyond me. At one point in the novel, Nate cuts off someone’s ears. Joe, who is such a model law enforcement officer that he once ticketed the governor for fishing without a license (as we are reminded in every novel), doesn’t arrest his friend Nate for this act of mayhem. At the end of the book, he even decides not to enforce one of the hunting laws he’s charged with enforcing. Good for him, but Joe’s situational law enforcement should be troubling to readers who admire his sanctimonious “by the book” attitude. Are readers not troubled by Joe’s hypocrisy?

I will say that Vicious Circle takes a more balanced view of the criminal justice system than some other books in the series (perhaps Box has been influenced by Gerry Spence?). The book acknowledges that too many police officers view criminal defense attorneys as the enemy and that too many cops plant evidence or engage in other misconduct to improve the state’s odds of convicting the people they perceive as bad guys. I’m glad Box made that point, but that's not enough to make the novel worth a reader's time.

The contrived plot is familiar and predictable. Joe’s family is threatened, again. Joe and Nate face peril, again. The story flows smoothly and makes for the unchallenging reading experience that Box fans seem to appreciate, but it never generates the kind of tension that a thriller should create. It’s actually kind of dull, as is Joe. It’s a shame Box hasn't done anything to breathe some life into this series.

NOT RECOMMENDED

First Sentence: Wyoming Game Warden Joe Pickett Flicked his eyes between the screen of the iPad mounted in front of him and the side window, as the vast dark pine forest spooled below the Cessna Turbo 206.

Game Warden Joe Pickett knew he’d have to deal with the Cates family someday after his first confrontation with them when they’d endangered his daughter April. Although the mother is still in prison, the son is free and wants payback.

Everyone is afraid of something. For Joe Pickett its small planes which is delightfully ironic for a man who has dealt with more than his share of danger. It does, however, provide a setup for Box to tell readers about flight searches and the equipment involved without interrupting the flow of the story. It is also a nice way to provide plot threads and set up the action.

The difficulty with finishing a story that had begun several books ago is that a great deal of background information is needed. Although this can feel as though it’s filler for those who follow the series, it is necessary for new readers in order for the story to make sense. Box does do a fairly good job of striking a difficult balance. However, because of the amount of explanation needed, it did detract for Box’s usual fast-action, high tension storytelling and the ending seemed abrupt.

Creating fully-developed characters is essential, and Box does just that. As well as providing backstory on the characters and their relationships, these are characters one can see and hear. And he does create truly evil and terrifying villains.

One small note; don’t ignore the chapter headings. They are very well done. And “Outlander” fans will appreciate the slight nod—“He approached the Plexiglas window at the end of the hall and startled a heavyset woman who was reading a thick novel by Diana Gabaldon.”

Box does include politics in his book, but in a straight-forward manner that related to the impact of political decisions rather than on the parties themselves.

“Vicious Circle” is a story that needed to be told in order to bring the Cates’ story to an end. So doing caused a few weaknesses in the book, but it is still very worth reading and anticipating the next book in the series.

VICIOUS CIRCLE (Lic Invest-Joe Pickett-Wyoming-Contemp) – G+
Box, C.J. – 17th in series
G.P. Putnam’s Sons – March, 2017

C.J. Box is one of the finest writers of our time and this new Joe Pickett novel is no exception. What I particularly like about Box's writing is that he blends previous ancillary characters into their own story and make it feel fresh and new. Outstanding novel. Thank you for letting me read this book.

Wyoming Game Warden Joe Pickett has been in a lot of dangerous and threatening situations before, but none have been as perilous for him and his family as their encounters with the evil and twisted Cates clan. (The history of those confrontations is detailed in “Endangered” the 15th book in the series.) At the conclusion of that book, Joe gets a measure of justice against the Cates for the abduction and beating of his daughter April. But that justice came at a high price for the Cates family. In “Vicious Circle,” Dallas Cates has just been released from prison and is determined to get revenge on Joe and his family. With the help of several depraved minions, Dallas’s attacks on the Picketts grow every more violent and terrifying. Law enforcement in Saddlestring, Wyoming know the Cates are bad characters, yet Dallas cleverly manages to be several steps ahead of any legitimate reason to be arrested. Even when he does get arrested, there is a stunning outcome to that arrest. A great deal of damage is done to the Pickett family before Joe, aided by his good friend Nate Romanowski, is able to bring the vicious cycle of violence and revenge to a close.

Over the course of this series, the reader comes to understand Joe’s absolute commitment to do the right thing and also protect his family. As he tells Dallas Cates mother Brenda, “You’ve got to know by now that when it comes to protecting my family, I’ll do anything it takes. Anything, Brenda.” Yet there is a part of Joe that understands why the Cates family is seeking revenge, and that causes him a great deal of internal conflict. Although reviewers often write that a particular author’s most recent book is his best, that is especially true with “Vicious Circle.” Because C.J. Box is so skillful at bringing readers new to the series up to date on events in previous books while also reminding long time readers what’s gone before, “Vicious Circle” could be read as a stand-alone. However, I would recommend newcomers to this series read “Endangered” first for the back-story of the destructive relationship between the Pickett and Cates families. Better yet, start at the beginning of this outstanding series and discover why C.J. Box is in the top tier of crime fiction authors.

My review was posted on Goodreads on 3/26/17

Another great Joe Pickett book! Fast moving, edge of your seat thriller. As usual, C.J. Box does not disappoint.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for this review.
Who can not love Joe Pickett! This book revisits a nemesis from his past and definitely keeps one on the edge of one's seat. There is not a boring moment and the plot takes clever, unexpected twists. There are many ends left dangling which will undoubtedly launch into another book.

C.J. Box does not disappoint with this 17th in the series. If you start here, you'll be excited that there are 16 previous books to read. Box' ability to bring the small towns of rural Wyoming to life is amazing, and here he does an excellent job of contrasting the inter-relatedness of that life with the emotionally isolating existence in a gated community in upscale Jackson.

In the past, Box decimated the redneck Cates family, and now he and his family are about to pay for it. The vicious cycle of the title refers to the retribution that rains down as Dallas Cates, ex-rodeo star and previous lover of Box' daughter, is released from prison. There's someone pulling the strings and financing this payback, and Box needs to figure out who before he loses his family to their maniacal plan.

As always, Box places the reader right in the heart of the Wyoming setting while he develops real-life characters and keeps the reader flipping the pages with the intensity of the plot. If you've ever wanted a sense of what it's like to live in Wyoming, read this book.

It's always great to spend some time with Joe Pickett and his family and friends. And this one promises to be an exciting ride: the Cates family, who Joe had a run-in with a couple of books back, has returned to get their revenge. But it's really kind of a dull book, all-in-all. What should have been an epic battle gets resolved all too easily. It almost seems like these last couple of Pickett books have been phoned-in rather than really developed and that's a shame, because Joe Pickett is one of the best mystery novel protagonists ever created. Maybe Box is running out of things to say? Box's diehard fans will want to read this one anyway.

This is CJ Box’s 24th novel and the 17th book in the saga of Joe Pickett, a Wyoming Game Warden. While this is a novel that could be read without having read the prior Pickett novels, I think the best enjoyment comes from having gone through the character development of Joe, his family, and the bad guys as written in the prior books. In this one, Box furthers the story of the hostility and violence between Joe and the sociopath Dallas Cates and Dallas’ crazy mother. Dallas has been released from prison for his prior crimes and aims for his revenge at Joe and his family. Box brings back the unparalleled outdoorsman Nate Romanowski and Joe’s mother-in-law and ultimate gold digger Missy, the latter who is now married to Marcus Hand, Box’s version of the famous Wyoming lawyer, Gerry Spence, who gets Dallas out of jail another time. Viscious Circle has another another great plot!

If you are a fan of crime novels, read CJ Box. He is one of the 10 guys in my power rotation of authors, and he has kept this series thriving with another A+ thriller. Thanks to NetGalley for this prepublication read. The book is due out in 10 days, on 3/21/17.

Vicious Circle is a high octane thriller! Lots of suspense, action and good old Western values! A superb father-daughter thriller. Don't mess with a cowboy's kid.. especially his lil girl. Action-packed to the very end!

I received an e-ARC of this novel through NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam. Thank you.

Joe Pickett tangled with the Cates family in the 2015 release of book 15 in the series titled Endangered. The Cates family definitely came out on the losing end of that confrontation but now Dallas Cates has been released from prison early and word around town says he's not trying to hide his thirst for revenge against the game warden who caused his family to lose their criminal livelihood. But it soon becomes clear that Dallas isn't just after Joe, he's after the entire Pickett family.

I still enjoy reading these novels with their depiction of the wilderness areas of Wyoming and the kind of strength and self-reliance it takes to make those isolated areas your home. Box does another great job of making me feel as if I'm there in that quiet country where you can see for miles in all directions, but he also makes me very aware of the fact that I would find all of that open space intimidating. I love to read about it, but reality would be something else entirely. I think it's a great tribute to Box that he can attract readers like me who feel the way I do about leaving big towns and cities behind. All of my favorite characters from the series are in this one and there is a twist at the end which maybe was a little too easy to see coming. There was also a subplot that felt like it wanted to go someplace but just never did.

Bottom line.......if you are a fan of this series, you will enjoy this latest story. If you haven't read Endangered, the author gives you enough background information to help you understand what went on to precipitate this revenge spree. Personally, I would advise you to read Endangered first, then this one because in order to help readers see the motive for the way Dallas Cates acts Box has to reveal spoilers for the previous book. Besides, Endangered was so good I still get chills running down my back when I think about that hiding place.