Endangered

by C. J. Box

            The 15^th installment in Box’s Joe Pickett series is a good, solid story. Joe’s ward, 18 year April, has run off with a rodeo rider. Not just any rider, but a local boy that Joe intensely dislikes. Dallas Cates is a local boy, a rodeo champion, and the youngest son of a family that Joe suspects of breaking the law frequently. Joe’s concern for April proves well founded when she is found alongside a rural road, badly beaten and barely alive. Who beat April? Dallas or someone else? Joe plans on finding out and quite possibly meting out his own justice.

            This novel differs from the last few novels in the series since Joe’s friend Nate Romanowski does not figure as prominently as he has. I believe this is a nice change and allows the story to move in some different directions.

            Box does a good job of character development in all his novels without sacrificing the fast pace readers come to expect in this genre.

            Borrow this book from your library for a quick enjoyable read.