In this 19th book in the 'Joe Pickett' series, the game warden is after lawbreakers who seem to think they're invulnerable. The book can be read as a standalone, but familiarity with the characters is a bonus.
*****
Wyoming Fish and Game Warden Joe Pickett has his own way of doing things, which led to him being fired for insubordination. No one less than the former Governor of Wyoming rose up to defend Joe, and he now has his job back, as well as a new green pickup and a new house.
Joe is adamant about enforcing Fish and Game laws in Twelve Sleep County, so when he gets a call from Warden Katelyn Hamm, who polices the region on the other side of the mountain, Joe takes notice.
It seems someone is using a drone to harass elk and mule deer, which resulted in the death of several animals. When Katelyn tried to shoot down the drone, it flew over to Joe's district, and Katelyn wants Joe to find the culprit.
Joe is investigating another misdemeanor as well. An illegal trapper has been putting out animal traps, and not returning to check them. This causes unnecessary suffering for creatures who get caught and aren't retrieved. The lawbreaker apparently isn't too clever, because his name and address are on the traps: Tom Kinnison, 224 Elkhorn Drive, Winchester, Wyoming.
As things play out, trapper Tom Kinnison and the owner of the illegal drone, a man named Bill Hill, reside at the same address. When Joe drives over to 224 Elkhorn Drive to hand out citations, he finds an isolated, well-protected compound housing several gun-toting men who aren't happy to see Joe.
Joe learns that trapper Tom Kinnison is away, and drone-flyer Bill Hill is arrogant and entitled about flying the aircraft. In fact Hill insinuates he has some kind of protection, and says Joe better back off if he wants to stay out of trouble.
Joe won't back off....but there's a complication. Bill Hill's son Justin is the high school boyfriend of Joe's 18-year-old daughter Lucy.
It turns out Bill Hill isn't delusional about being unassailable, because FBI agents from Washington DC show up in Wyoming. The agents try to pressure Katelyn Hamm and Joe Pickett to go easy on Hill and his cohorts, hinting at some VERY important reasons. Of course Joe has no intention of cooperating with the FBI agents, who - besides being autocratic and cocky - appear to be operating without authorization from Quantico.
In the meantime four assassins from the Mexican Sinaloa cartel - who call themselves the Wolf Pack - have murdered three people in Arizona and are on their way to Wyoming to 'finish the job.'
Joe's friend Nate Romanowski sees the four Hispanic visitors when they arrive in town, gets a bad vibe from them, and tells Joe about their presence. Readers familiar with the series know that Nate is a former special ops agent who's the cleverest, most capable, and toughest outdoorsman in the country. (I think of Nate as a sort of 'Jack Reacher of the mountains', a man you can always count on to do the job.)
Nate, who's now a falconer among other things, helps Joe in his attempt to stop the drones and round up the bad guys.
The story is action packed, with plenty of murder and mayhem - some of it at the hands of a beautiful 'honeypot' cartel assassin, who lures men to their demise.
Though some scenes are hard (for me) to stomach, I enjoyed the book and recommend it to fans of the Joe Pickett series and readers who enjoy thrillers.
Rating: 3.5 stars
No comments:
Post a Comment