Cold Wind

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader as part of a quick-takes catch up post. The point is to catch up on my “To Write About” stack—emphasizing pithiness, not thoroughness..
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Wow. There's a lot going on in this one. The events of the Nate story were horrible, but Box pulled it off in a way that will be good for the character/series long-term.

Killing Missy's husband Earl on the other hand...well, like Joe himself, I'm not crazy about any time we spend with Missy, so making her a focal point of a novel isn't going to make me thrilled with it. But, I ended up really liking this one, too.

These books don't inspire a lot of thought or writing from me—and maybe they should—but I do consistently enjoy them. Chandler's narration is solid as ever. At this point, I don't think I can switch to the print version of the series—I need his voice for Joe and the gang.

Another standard jaunt around Joe Pickett's world. No real criticisms. CJ Box knows what's he's doing.

My only real beef when it comes to books like this are when the sleuths (or those around them) start doing superhuman stuff, or dealing with things that would have multiple arms of the extended government crashing down on them.

The B-story with Nate Romanowski was compelling in this one, but a little over-the-top.