BOOK TITLE: Force of Nature
AUTHOR: C.J. Box
YEAR: 2012
GENRE: Fiction
SUBGENRE: Mystery Thriller
GRADE: Extra Credit
I don’t give five-star reviews very often. When I do, it’s because the book wasn’t just likeable, but it moved me in some way. I’ve always known Mr. Box to be a competent writer, but I wasn’t expecting to be completely blown away by this piece of fiction. The action and drama in this mystery made me feel alive. It heightened senses within me that were otherwise dulled by the COVID-19 pandemic going on and all the psychological fallout from that. Why wouldn’t this book be exciting? You’ve got a hardnosed warrior named Nate Romanowski who’s in a cat and mouse game with his former commander. You’ve got the always professional Game Warden Joe Pickett, whose family is being threatened by this bloody struggle. You’ve got increased paranoia and distrust among people who are supposed to be supportive of Joe and Nate. You’ve got all the makings of a tried-and-true thriller turned up to twenty. Bloody violence, enigmatic characters, betrayal, and no reason to believe that Nate and Joe are capable of winning. Do they? You’ll ask yourself that question all throughout this reading experience. You’ll have doubts as your anxiety increases. If they do win (and that’s a big if), you’d better believe they’re walking away with trauma and scars.
Speaking of trauma, the way C.J. Box portrays Nate Romanowski is just as disturbing and cold as the character himself. He’s not just an emotionless killer. He’s got an entire history behind him that bubbles to the surface far too often for the reader’s comfort. The military training he had to endure, the fallout with his father, and the coldness required for training falcons, they all will send a chill up and down your spine as if you’re actually trapped in Wyoming’s winter weather. You’ll be eternally grateful that Nate is one of the good guys, because if he for some reason turned evil, this world would turn into a bloodbath. Sometimes you wonder if his innocence is completely gone and maybe he does have evil tendencies. He’s a shades-of-gray hero, but those shades are darker than the night sky. If you ever see Nate Romanowski in real life, you’d better turn the other way and run. He’s got his morals for sure, but he’s also got a heart of stone that could make even the toughest of tough guys knock their knees together in fear. If you think he’s all bark and no bite, just watch the way he tortures people to get what he wants and how quickly he can kill someone in a life-or-death brawl.
The minor role characters can be just as compelling to read about. The one I feel like I have to talk about the most is Pam Kelly, whose husband Paul and son Stumpy were murdered by Nate after they tried to assassinate him. When Pam was younger, she had her starry eyes set on a handsome superstar cowboy. She even carried his baby, who grew up to be Stumpy. But instead of landing a country stud, she settled on Paul and led a mediocre life. Pam was angry when Paul and Stumpy were killed, not because of them, but because she felt like she threw her life away on those two and had nothing to show for it. Old and fat in today’s world, she doesn’t have a chance at starting over and has to clean up the mess left behind by the only two men in her life. While Pam isn’t the kindest character in the book, she is one of the most sympathetic. I’m fat myself and am looking down the barrel of wasted opportunities. Pam’s characterization hit me hard, even if we don’t get to see a lot of her.
Joe Pickett is always a reliable character when it comes to likeability. He’s professional, he’s intelligent, he always knows what to say and when to say it, and he’s a family man at heart who goes the extra mile for those he loves. April, Joe’s adopted daughter, is as bratty and nasty as she has ever been, even going so far as to mock her sister Lucy for missing her high school play. Lucy and Sheridan both have their own projects outside of home and when a monkey wrench is thrown in their plans, they have no problem with showing their disappointment and rage. Marybeth is a caring wife, nurturing mother, and efficient librarian, the latter of which will come into play when she’s being stalked at her place of work (another source of dramatic tension). Kyle McLanahan is a cartoonish redneck Sheriff who somehow keeps getting public praise despite his idiocy. Aside from April, there’s not a character in this book that I felt slowed the pace of the story. Everybody has a role and everybody plays their role with undying commitment. Seriously, though, somebody please give April the spanking of the century.
Out of every book I’ve read from C.J. Box’s catalogue, Force of Nature is without a doubt my favorite among them. Will there be others that exceed or meet that standard? I’m sure Mr. Box can figure out a way to make that happen. He truly earned every award and every word of praise he’s racked up over the years. Even people with opposing political views from Box will get a kick out of his mysteries. They’re well-written, they’re enjoyable, they’ve got splendid character work, and Force of Nature in particular stands out the most in terms of quality. Five stars out of five for this brilliant piece of fiction!
Showing posts with label Nate Romanowski. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nate Romanowski. Show all posts
Sunday, September 6, 2020
Friday, June 26, 2020
"Cold Wind" by C.J. Box
BOOK TITLE: Cold Wind
AUTHOR: C.J. Box
YEAR: 2011
GENRE: Fiction
SUBGENRE: Mystery/Thriller
GRADE: Pass
Will Joe Pickett find out who murdered wind farm scammer Earl Alden? Will Nate Romanowski exact revenge on the people responsible for his girlfriend’s death? These questions and many more will haunt you during your entire reading adventure through Cold Wind. Just when you think you can breathe a sigh of relief, there’s another twist or obstacle that comes around the corner to mess things up. Even as the book winds down to a close, there’s no room to breathe comfortably. Earl’s murder isn’t an open and shut case; there’s a conspiracy at work involving pyramid schemes and Joe’s own disliked mother-in-law Missy, who is the first accused. And Nate? He can’t depend on the law to help him since he’s an outlaw himself. When you want a revenge murder done right, you’ve got to do it yourself with the help of gigantic pistols and stealthy know-how. All in all, this is a well-crafted mystery that will keep you guessing until the end. You want to cheer for Joe and Nate to find justice. You also want their stories to intertwine since they were former friends. You may have to wait patiently and put together the pieces like everyone else, but your eagerness to crack the case won’t allow you to step away from this book. That’s the mark of a good mystery: always keeping the readers hungry for more.
Behind all of the good writing and carefully-constructed mysteries, the author has an obvious rightwing agenda. This book was published in 2011, when conservatives were paranoid about where their tax money was going. Speaking from my own liberal point of view, I appreciate the fact that C.J. Box’s politics don’t come off as ham-fisted. They’re tolerable so as long as they play a vital role in how the mystery unfolds, which they do. One thing that rubbed me the wrong way, though, was the whining and complaining about diversity in a mostly-white state like Wyoming, which is where the book takes place. People say it’s about preserving realism, I say it’s about celebrating bigotry. But that’s just my opinion. Obviously, the politics of this book didn’t bother me enough to put it down permanently. I read the whole thing from cover to cover and it’s still an effective murder mystery no matter what biases the reader has. I can still get behind characters like Joe Pickett, Nate Romanowski, Marybeth Picket, Alicia Whiteplume, and yes, even Marcus Hand despite this defense lawyer’s sometimes piggish behavior.
You know who I can’t get behind, though? Joe’s adopted daughter April, who comes off as whiny, spoiled, and bratty in all of her appearances in this book. So her parents took away her electronics. Big deal! With all of the venom pouring from this kid’s mouth, I’m surprised they didn’t give up on her right away. At least with Sheridan, you’ve got a college kid who’s worried about navigating life on her own. With Lucy, you’ve got a high school kid who wants her parents to acknowledge the fact that she earned a part in the school play. There’s no reason to feel sympathetic towards April. Yeah, she had a hard go of things in the first Joe Pickett novel, but unless you’re familiar with that side of her story, then all the reader is going to see is a bratty little goblin. At least there’s a reason for Missy Alden’s wicked behavior even as she’s trying to prove her own innocence. It plays into the story. April? Get her out of here already. She’s too much.
While this book isn’t going to change your life or convert anybody to C.J. Box’s beliefs, it will provide you with an exciting thriller with protagonists you can love and cartoonish villains you can hate. Joe Pickett’s family man shtick is evident in not only his personal life, but also in how he takes care of business as a game warden. When he does make stupid mistakes, they’re not so stupid that his family is left without a father figure and a husband. When Nate Romanowski hunts down his girlfriend’s murderers, he does it with precision and intelligence, which is more than I can say about some of the hillbilly villains. Cold Wind gets four out of five stars for being an enjoyable mystery/thriller and not having to be anything more than that.
AUTHOR: C.J. Box
YEAR: 2011
GENRE: Fiction
SUBGENRE: Mystery/Thriller
GRADE: Pass
Will Joe Pickett find out who murdered wind farm scammer Earl Alden? Will Nate Romanowski exact revenge on the people responsible for his girlfriend’s death? These questions and many more will haunt you during your entire reading adventure through Cold Wind. Just when you think you can breathe a sigh of relief, there’s another twist or obstacle that comes around the corner to mess things up. Even as the book winds down to a close, there’s no room to breathe comfortably. Earl’s murder isn’t an open and shut case; there’s a conspiracy at work involving pyramid schemes and Joe’s own disliked mother-in-law Missy, who is the first accused. And Nate? He can’t depend on the law to help him since he’s an outlaw himself. When you want a revenge murder done right, you’ve got to do it yourself with the help of gigantic pistols and stealthy know-how. All in all, this is a well-crafted mystery that will keep you guessing until the end. You want to cheer for Joe and Nate to find justice. You also want their stories to intertwine since they were former friends. You may have to wait patiently and put together the pieces like everyone else, but your eagerness to crack the case won’t allow you to step away from this book. That’s the mark of a good mystery: always keeping the readers hungry for more.
Behind all of the good writing and carefully-constructed mysteries, the author has an obvious rightwing agenda. This book was published in 2011, when conservatives were paranoid about where their tax money was going. Speaking from my own liberal point of view, I appreciate the fact that C.J. Box’s politics don’t come off as ham-fisted. They’re tolerable so as long as they play a vital role in how the mystery unfolds, which they do. One thing that rubbed me the wrong way, though, was the whining and complaining about diversity in a mostly-white state like Wyoming, which is where the book takes place. People say it’s about preserving realism, I say it’s about celebrating bigotry. But that’s just my opinion. Obviously, the politics of this book didn’t bother me enough to put it down permanently. I read the whole thing from cover to cover and it’s still an effective murder mystery no matter what biases the reader has. I can still get behind characters like Joe Pickett, Nate Romanowski, Marybeth Picket, Alicia Whiteplume, and yes, even Marcus Hand despite this defense lawyer’s sometimes piggish behavior.
You know who I can’t get behind, though? Joe’s adopted daughter April, who comes off as whiny, spoiled, and bratty in all of her appearances in this book. So her parents took away her electronics. Big deal! With all of the venom pouring from this kid’s mouth, I’m surprised they didn’t give up on her right away. At least with Sheridan, you’ve got a college kid who’s worried about navigating life on her own. With Lucy, you’ve got a high school kid who wants her parents to acknowledge the fact that she earned a part in the school play. There’s no reason to feel sympathetic towards April. Yeah, she had a hard go of things in the first Joe Pickett novel, but unless you’re familiar with that side of her story, then all the reader is going to see is a bratty little goblin. At least there’s a reason for Missy Alden’s wicked behavior even as she’s trying to prove her own innocence. It plays into the story. April? Get her out of here already. She’s too much.
While this book isn’t going to change your life or convert anybody to C.J. Box’s beliefs, it will provide you with an exciting thriller with protagonists you can love and cartoonish villains you can hate. Joe Pickett’s family man shtick is evident in not only his personal life, but also in how he takes care of business as a game warden. When he does make stupid mistakes, they’re not so stupid that his family is left without a father figure and a husband. When Nate Romanowski hunts down his girlfriend’s murderers, he does it with precision and intelligence, which is more than I can say about some of the hillbilly villains. Cold Wind gets four out of five stars for being an enjoyable mystery/thriller and not having to be anything more than that.
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