Three-Inch Teeth: A Joe Pickett Novel

Box’s pulse-pounding latest adventure for Wyoming game warden Pickett (after Storm Watch) showcases the series’ strengths: high-octane action, intricate plotting, and well-drawn characters. Things kick off dramatically with Clay Hutmacher Jr. trout-fishing in a river and planning how he’ll propose to Pickett’s daughter, when he’s fatally attacked by a grizzly bear. The discovery of Clay’s remains prompts Pickett to activate Wyoming’s Predator Attack Team to hunt down the bear before it claims more victims. Meanwhile, white supremacist Dallas Cates, who headed the WOODS (Whites Only One Day Soon) gang, is released from prison with plans to assassinate six targets—including Pickett—in revenge for killing members of his family and putting him behind bars. When he learns that Pickett is preoccupied with finding the bear that killed Clay, Cates moves his old nemesis to the top of his hit list. Box maintains expert suspense throughout, shrewdly exploiting the story’s animal and human killers to set a series of diabolical traps for his hero. It’s another high point in a series full of them. Agent: Ann Rittenberg, Ann Rittenberg Literary. (Feb.)