This one was another of his "Joe Pickett" novels. It wasn't so scary. The title was Below Zero.
Some of Box's books have been okay; others have been quite good. Nobody keeps me reading through insane violence like Box does. This one has insane violence, with the emphasis on insane. It also involves a character given up for dead in a previous novel and a big red herring. There's a lot of improbability in this story. Enough so that Douglas Adams' S.S. Heart of Gold (a spaceship powered by an Infinite Improbability Drive), could probably travel vast distances on the improbablility in this book.
I'm not fond of implausibility in realistic fiction. I guess this isn't realistic fiction, because I wasn't bothered much by it until I'd finished the book.
Here's the sum of my recommendation. I read the first half of the book in a couple session over three days. Last night, I crawled into bed intending to read for half an hour or so. The next thing I know, I had finished the book and it was nearly 1 A.M. (a time of day I rarely see these days -- especially on a Sunday night/Monday morning). That's how good the story telling was.
I haven't figured out the meaning of the title yet. The story is not set in winter or a freezer. But this is a compelling story. (Second book in a row that I didn't want to put down. Maybe it's me.)
Check the library for Below Zero by C.J. Box. Or if you can't wait buy it from your local book store or from Amazon.com below.
- C. J. Box's web site
- Dick Adler's review at BarnesandNoble.com
- Erika Ayala's review at EZine
For Kindle
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