Joe Pickett Books In Order: Here’s Everything You Need to Know! 

If you love reading books and enjoy mystery, thrills, and crime, pick this classic series by C.J. Box. Here’s everything you need to know about the Joe Pickett books in order.

Introduction to the Joe Pickett Series

This timeless masterpiece is written by the #1 New York bestseller of more than thirty books, CJ Box. He has much notable work under his belt and has been awarded recognition and awards like the Edgar Alan Poe Award for best novel, the Anthony Award, and so much more.

The Joe Pickett series is based on the Western American Wyoming game warden. Set in the wilderness of the West, it often showcases the interaction of locals and the environment.

Filled with thriller themes, crime, and mystery, readers are left on the edge.

Joe Pickett Books In Order

This list is set in chronological order so that it’s easy for you to pick your Joe Pickett books in order and enjoy the ride of thrill and mystery smoothly without any confusion.

• Open Season (2001)

In The Twelve Sleep, a game warden Wyoming, while investigating a local outfitter’s murder his investigation ends up discovering an endangered living right in his own backyard.

However, if someone gets wind of the species’ existence, it can cause the failure of the plan of building an oil pipeline by a multi-billion dollar natural gas company. so Joe Pickett has to find his way through an ugly web of corruption in order to disclose the truth and keep his loved ones safe.

• Savage Run (2003)

After the mysterious death of an environmental activist, So wyoming warden scrutinizes the reason behind this death after an immense explosion of rocks in Twelve Sleep County. However, the case is tangled in a dangerous conspiracy that is not only a threat to Joe Pickett’s life but also his morals and values. It’s a roller coaster of thrills, leaving readers edgy.

• Winterkill (2004)

   As the name says, this novel is set in the snowy, cold wilderness. In a treacherous game of mouse and cat, Winterkill follows Joe Pickett in this chase; he has to face a killer sneaking in the dense forest. In this chilly storm, Lamar Gardiner’s horrifying corpse is a warning, and before things go out of hand, Joe must do everything to survive and outwit the killer. 

• Trophy Hunt (2005)

This novel goes gritty and dark, where a game warden in Wyoming stumbles upon a mutilated moose and realizes that a killer is on a spree. As per the observation, the clean cut on the moose feels like it’s the doing of a human. The unwillingness of local authorities to take action on the case is also a problem. When the number of killings taking place increases, the warden has to buckle up to catch the killer before any more moose gets killed.

• Out of Range (2006)

This is the fifth book in the Joe Pickett series. It is a suspenseful and thrilling mystery novel. With Will Jensen’s sudden death, Joe Pickett, upon investigation, is pushed into a world where he has to face murder, greed, and power. He has to work his way through powerful and rich environmental extremists. Delving deep into the case, Pickett realizes he himself is one of the targets.

• In Plain Sight (2006)

#1 bestselling author CJ Box wrote This gripping novel revolves around the investigation of Opal Scarlett’s wealthy matriarch as she vanishes by none other than Joe Pickett, who suspects her greedy sons. Joe finds himself as a target of vicious pranks; he reveals that this case is much more than a vicious prank; it also connects to his past.

• Free Fire (2007)

In this Joe Pickett Series, there’s a brutal mass killing taking place in a distant corner of Yellowstone National Park, with the absence of jurisdiction and residents, where it’s easier to get laid off from murders in a free-fire zone. Joe is hired to investigate and reveal the purpose behind the brutal killings, which endangers his life to discover a frightening secret buried inside a mountainous terrain.

• Blood Trail (2008)

If you are looking for something gore and dark crime conspiracy, Blood Trail is a perfect choice when Wyoming Game Warden Joe Pickett is set to investigate a dead huntsman in the woods treated like an animal. Joe has to chase after the killer.

However, as he deep dives, he is bewildered if he is after a psychopath or after a wider anti-hunting agenda; this novel surely knows how to keep you on your toes throughout the journey of the whole case.

• Below Zero (2009)

In this novel, things get strange when Joe receives phone calls from his murdered foster daughter, leading to an increase in environment-related crime scenes at every call. He is set to investigate the mysterious phone calls and crime scenes as the danger keeps growing. Below Zero is to be tried if you are a true suspense enthusiast.

• Nowhere to Run (2010)

Find a spine-tingling novel about a temporary game warden investigating reports of strange occurrences in the wilds of Baggs, Wyoming. Camps are looted, Tents are slashed, and elk are butchered—Joe Pickett soon discovers that it’s not just a scary campfire story.

• Cold Wind (2011)

Where a murder that involved his mother-in-law in accusation of killing her husband, this case hits close to home for Joe Pickett, tangled in the dilemma of his responsibility for his duty or his personal feelings. Furthermore, diving deep into the crime case, he questions and wonders if someone else might be responsible. And some powerful forces are against him.

• Force of Nature (2012)

When Joe’s friend’s dark past bites back, it threatens his friend and those around him in this dangerous thriller. Former Special Forces soldier Nate Romanowski faces a high-ranking government official who wants to eliminate everyone who knows about his horrendous past.  

Joe Pickett and his friends have fallen into a dangerous game; he has to handle this matter with himself and retaliate beyond the law, in this game of cat and mouse, who will win? 

• Breaking Point (2013)

Butch Roberson is a determined local business owner, and he is accused of murdering two EPA employees. Joe, throughout the case, discovers a shattering story of land loss, debt and torn apart family. Joe goes deep into the case, and he faces the dilemma of choosing the sides. Will Joe be able to dig up the truth of the reality behind butch Roberson’s life?

• Stone Cold (2014)

In this Joe Pickett series, Stone Cold is a suspense novel about a wealthy man with a mysterious personality who owns an isolated ranch in the Black Hills of Wyoming. It is rumored that his wealth is earned by killing people, so Joe Pickett, a menace to the governor, is handled to discover the truth. He discovers beyond his expectations, which includes two men who live on the ranch, one of whom is a stone-cold killer.

• Endangered (2015)

This novel is about Joe Pickett and his daughter, where someone brutally attacks his daughter, escaping from her worst enemy. He goes along with hints and comes face to face with a dangerous family like before. 

• Off the Grid (2016)

This is set in the hauntingly beautiful Red desert, where Joe Pickett and his friend immediately catch up to eliminate a domestic terror cell, with the promise to forego Nate’s criminal past. So a special team of operators signs a deal with him, which doesn’t seem to be truthful. Joe uncovers their true plan, which might be dangerous and become the reason for their downfall.

• Vicious Circle (2017)

Being a bestselling book by author CJ Box, Joe Pickett has to face the coming back of Cate’s family, with whom he shares a dangerous past. When he comes to know that they have made a target out of him and his family, he must do everything in him to navigate through the worst possible outcome. The suspense in this is gripping.

• The Disappeared (2018)

The governor hires Joe Pickett for an extremely serious job in Wyoming; he has to investigate the British executives who have disappeared from a high-end guest ranch.

He is working on the case of killings of several golden and bald eagles, and as he goes deep there’s more desperately someone wants to stop him. Is there any connection between the missing women and the dead eagles? The answers to the question have him questioning.

•  Wolf Pack (2019)

Joe Pickett faces a frightening drone operator who is on a spree of killing wildlife. When he tries to investigate, he is stopped by the FBI and also by the DOJ who asks him to step down from the search, he realises that something sinister is happening. A female game warden is facing a pack of assassins working for the Sinaloa cartel when bodies start to pile up. This novel is sure to take you on an action thriller.

• Long Range (2020)

In a shooting that feels impossible to execute, Joe Pickett’s investigation is to find answers, so the case becomes dangerous and personal for Nate and him. With scenes of reality and gripping suspense involving death in wilderness, this novel is for die-hard fans of mysteries and thrill.

• Dark Sky (2021)

Dark Sky is the second last in Joe Pickett series, where a Silicon Valley CEO and Joe go for an elk hunting trip; however, they come to know they are being chased down themselves; with neither weapons nor means to communicate, Joe uses his wild survival instincts to protect them. His daughter and friend go to save them, only to face something sinister against man and nature.

• Shadows Reel (2022)

This exciting book revolves around the family of Wyoming Game Warden Joe Pickett, who gets into danger when his wife finds a mysterious package at work. The package contained a photograph album that belonged to a Nazi official. As they start to investigate further, their quest takes them on a mission to discover Wyoming soldiers in World War II. 

As the truth unfolds before them, they become the killer’s next victim. Meanwhile, Nate Romanowski puts his own record straight against the man who broke into his home, attacked his wife, and stole his falcons. This latest installment in the best-selling series has been eagerly anticipated, and the thrilling final confrontation does not disappoint

So here is the list of Joe Pickett books in order, you have to try if you want to enjoy suspense, thrill, mystery, and crime conspiracy.

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