Book Review-Back of Beyond by CJ Box

Book Review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Brief Synopsis:

From Cjbox.net: In Back of Beyond, Cody Hoyt, although a brilliant cop, is an alcoholic struggling with two months of sobriety when his friend Hank Winters turns up dead in a remote mountain cabin. At first it looks like the suicide of a man who’s fallen off the wagon, but Cody knows Hank better than that. As Cody digs deeper into the case, all roads lead to foul play. After years of bad behavior with his department, Cody in no position to be investigating a homicide. But he will stop at nothing to find out who murdered Hank. And why…

When clues found at the scene link the murderer to an outfitter leading tourists on a multiday wilderness horseback trip in Yellowstone National Park, Cody is desperate to get on the trail and stop the killer in his tracks. There’s only one catch: his own son, Justin, is among the tourists. Now, in one of the most remote places on earth, Cody must enter a deadly cat-and-mouse game with a ruthless enemy who seems to know his every move…and is hell-bent on destroying the only important thing in Cody’s life he has left.

What I Loved—

1. Imperfect/flawed main character, Cody Hoyt
2. The scenery and wilderness (Yellowstone) almost as its own character-absolutely love the idea of parts of the country (US) that no one has explored or seen in hundreds of years.
3. Multiple POV love books with those
4. Gracie-really hope we see more of her-would be awesome if she goes on to join law enforcement in some way and becomes part of the series or even has her own later on. Strong, smart female character.
5. Isolated mystery (in parts of the book, at least) which is a trope I love
6. Audiobook narrator, Holter Graham kept me gripped to the story-I listen during my commutes and when I’m at my desk too. This book made me not want to get to my destination so quickly.

This book has been out for a long time (2011) and clearly I’m late to the game. This is a new to me author that has a huge backlist and I’m looking forward to reading more of his works for sure.

What I didn’t like–(sort of)

(It didn’t affect my rating because it was very done well)- Spoiler Alert–The death of characters that I had become really attached to. I know it had to be done to drive the story & the characters along, but it made me sad of course ☹ I kept hoping that Larry wasn’t really dead! Could CJ Box be the next George RR Martin as in Don’t Get Attached to Anyone, ever?!?

This book was a lot of fun and it looks like it’s the start of a couple of series’. Can’t wait to get my hands on those too.

Makes me want to go on a pack trip through Yellowstone, too. Hopefully with less misadventure, though!