In Plain Sight

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader as part of a quick takes post to catch up–emphasizing pithiness, not thoroughness.
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So this is all about chickens coming home to roost—almost everything that happened in this novel ties into one or more of the previous novels. And never the fun stuff from those novels. There's the marital issues we got a glimpse at since Day 1 (and getting worse all the time—especially in the last book), the dead former Sheriff, the new Sheriff and his issues with Joe, Joe's new boss—and more that I will just gloss over and let you read.

There's a truly disturbing secret unearthed that really sheds light on so much of what happened in the book, most authors would've spent a lot more time on it than Box did here, he just let it be something that happened on the way to the major showdown. I like that he did it, but also kind of wish he'd given us a little more about it.

I did like the new governor and hope we get to see him again. (I especially like the fact that he's a fictional politician and governs a neighboring state, not my own, I don't even think I could enjoy him as a fictional Idaho governor).

There's a lot left hanging at the close of this novel, I know the series continues (for many, many books to come), but I really have no idea what it'll look like when I come back for Free Fire. Joe will be different, too, no matter what the circumstances around him are like. I assume Box is going to address it and I'm very curious about it.

I like Joe Pickett. He stands for something. He is a tad bit cliche in the tropes of the western hero, but that doesn't hurt. In fact, it probably helps. It helps because when Joe does something out of character, you know it. You feel it. It sits with you as being something that was absolutely necessary to do, otherwise he wouldn't have done it. The true joy of Joe Pickett books is not the mystery itself. It's not the inevitable white-knuckle climax. It's the delight in watching Joe navigate and overcome the maddeningly frustrating world of bureaucrats and governmental red tape. CJ Box knows how to torture his protagonist with the hateful, short-sighted world of pencil-pushers and micromanagers, and that's what keeps me coming back for more. I can't wait for the day when Joe finally snaps and starts slapping the holy hell out of those idiots who deserve to be slapped.