Below Zero: (9 Joe Pickett)

'Tell Sherry April called.' That simple phone message shakes Joe Pickett’s oldest daughter Sheridan and the rest of the family to the core. To Joe, it doesn’t seem even remotely possible that April could have survived the massacre six years before. He was there, and he was unable to save her. But Sheridan starts to believe there’s a chance that April is still alive, and her suspicions are confirmed when the person sending texts to her cell phone is able to recall family incidents only April could know. Meanwhile, a dying Chicago mobster named Stenko and a much younger girl cross the country. He’s on a mission to reconcile with his extreme environmentalist son before he goes. His son is less interested in reconciliation than in getting his father to repent for the environmental crimes he’s committed during his lifetime. He wants his father to become not just carbon neutral, but to reduce his carbon footprint to below zero – as if he’d never even existed. Joe, however, remains wary of the messages, even though their references to things only April could know are convincing. But when the texts start to refer to “bad things,” and when Marybeth discovers they come from locations throughout the West where vicious murders have taken place, alarm bells go off. Desperate to discover if April is still alive and to save her from possible danger, Joe, Sheridan, and Nate Romanowski take to the road to connect the texts with the crimes. As the path of Stenko and his companions starts to cross with Joe, Sheridan, and Nate, the question is raised: is this young girl April or is the Pickett family the victim of the cruelest of hoaxes?

About the Author :
C.J. Box is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of 31 novels including the Joe Pickett series. He has won the Edgar Alan Poe Award for Best Novel (Blue Heaven, 2009) as well as the Anthony Award, Prix Calibre 38 (France), the Maltese Falcon Award (Japan), the Macavity Award, the Gumshoe Award, two Barry Awards, and the 2010 Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association Award for fiction. He was recently awarded the 2016 Western Heritage Award for Literature by the National Cowboy Museum as well as the Spur Award for Best Contemporary Novel by the Western Writers of America in 2017. More than 20 million copies of Box's books have been sold in the US and abroad and they’ve been translated into 27 languages. Two television series have been based on his novels, including Big Sky on ABC and Joe Pickett on Paramount+ and Amazon Prime. Box acted as Executive Producer on both series. Box and his wife Laurie live on a ranch in Wyoming. David Chandler has performed on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and at regional theatres across the US, as well as London’s Bush Theatre. Appearances in movies and television include The Grey Zone, Hide and Seek, The Undeserved, Death of a Salesman, Seinfeld, Third Rock from the Sun and numerous episodes of Law and Order. He has played Carnegie Hall with Alarm Will Sound in their production of 1969.

Review :
'... Pickett: one of the most appealing men in popular fiction, a laid-back, good-natured guy until he's riled, and then ...' '... This relentlessly paced powder keg of a thriller could be Box’s best to date.' (Starred Review)