THREE-INCH TEETH

5 stars out of 5

For sure, this is one of the most violent and dark of the books in this series that I've read - this is the 24th, and I'm pretty sure I haven't missed any of them. But it all comes together to make this one hard to put down as well as introduces possibilities for new and exciting directions to come.

Early on, trouble shows its ugly face in the form of a gigantic grizzly bear - an animal not common to the Wyoming territory served by game warden Joe Pickett. The bear has its deadly way with the son of a local landowner, instilling fear in the community and sparking efforts to find the critter before it finds another victim. Concurrently, readers learn that Joe's old nemesis, former champion rodeo rider Dallas Cates, has been released from prison. Apparently, he's gathered some followers who share his mindset and formulated a plan to get even with all the folks who've wronged him over the years, with Joe and his good friend Nate Romanowski at the top of the list. Nate is, shall we say, a rugged individualist and falconer who now owns a professional bird abatement company that employs Joe's daughter Sheridan, a master falconer in her own right.

The motive of Dallas's gang may be clear, but their method is nothing short of unorthodox - not to mention confusing, given the flurry of grizzly bear activity of late. Meantime, Nate sends Sheridan to handle a big bird problem at a client's farm, where she gets an unexpected revelation that will give Joe and his wife, local library director Marybeth, reason for even more concern.

Chapters flip back and forth among the various scenarios - Joe and his crew trying to find the errant grizzly before it strikes again, Dallas and his buddies working their way down his list of victims and Sheridan's experiences on the bird rout. It's all fast-paced, right up to the end - when it gets downright frantic (not to mention sad). In fact, it was so abrupt that it felt sort of like somebody smacked me in the brain and ran away before I could catch my breath and ask the questions that immediately came to mind.

Oh well, as I said before, I expect to get some answers with the next book - which hopefully will come sooner rather than later. Meantime, I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity once again to read and review a pre-release copy of this one. 

Three-Inch Teeth by C.J. Box (G.P. Putnam's Sons, February 2024); 384 pp.